Camping Trip
by smokeydirtcat
Summary: Echizen wins a match against Atobe and he and the rest of the regulars are invited to go camping with Hyoutei. What happens when Echizen gets threatened and someone uninvited shows up to take revenge for a family member? Little OOC here and there.
1. Late Again

**Hey everyone! Second story! Whoot! Let's see how it will turn out. I know that in my first story some people were asking if there was going to be any pairings. Just a heads up of this one, the only **_**slight**_** pairings that will be RyomaxMomo, RyomaxEiji or RyomaxFuji. For the most part, everyone treats Ryoma like a younger brother and have that kind of love for him. I also plan to put Ryoga in all of my stories :3**

**Sorry in advance for the OOC-ness of the Hyotei regulars. Please tell me if I'm using the wrong names for them and when they address someone if I make them use the wrong suffix!**

**Let's start this fun thing all over again. I DO NOT own anything remotely related to Prince of Tennis except for a tennis racket in my closet.**

**First chapter, second story. Enjoy!**

* * *

That day started out like any other; Echizen and Momo were late for morning practice, again. This time, it wasn't Echizen's fault. He was actually standing outside waiting for Momo. Usually, he just leaves without him but he was still tired and didn't want to walk. The back tire on Momo's bike was deflated and he needed to replace it, hence, why they were late.

"Baka Momo-sempai!" Echizen said as they walked onto the courts. "I should have left without you!"

"Be quiet Echizen!" retorted Momo. "Do you want Buchou to-"

"Echizen, Momoshiro, 20 laps." They both heard a voice shout to them from one of the far off courts. Tezuka was watching a match and had his back to them.

"How does he do that?" Momo asked. Echizen just sighed and walked into the club room to change. "Oi Echizen, don't ignore me!"

"Saa, I wonder what the excuse is today." Fuji said with a smile.

"50% Echizen says its Momo fault and 50% Momo says its Echizen's fault." Inui said reading from his notebook.

"Maa, that's kind of a given Inui." Taka said as he sweat dropped.

"Nya, I feel bad for Momo and Ochibi. They always have to run." Kikumaru said as he swung his racket.

"But all that extra running has to be good for them." Oishi said.

"It's not_ my_ fault that we're late!" Momo shouted at Echizen as they came out of the club room.

"Then whose is it Momo-sempai?" Echizen asked with an annoyed face as he began is laps.

Momo thought for a second. "It's obviously- hey! Don't start without me!" he ran to catch up with Echizen.

"Fsshhh… baka." Kaidou said as he hit a ball back to his opponent.

* * *

After Momo and Echizen finished their laps, they began their practice. It seemed to go by rather quickly and they didn't really do much. They warmed up, rallied for a few minutes then had practice matches and that was it. Even though it was the morning, they would still do as much as if it were the afternoon.

"I wonder why practice wasn't so tough today." Momo said to himself as he walked into the club room.

"Fsshhh, if you were here on time you would know." Kaidou hissed.

Momo scowled at him. Echizen was in the middle of changing when Momo's statement caused him to wonder too.

"Saa, Ryuzaki-sensei scheduled a match with Hyoutei this afternoon."

"Wouldn't that make her work us more?"

"Nya, we asked that too but she said that this time was different. Something about having a break next week." Kikumaru trailed off and went into a deep thought.

Hearing that, Echizen finished changing and left the club room. He was a little curious about why they didn't practice as they normally did and what it had to do with Hyoutei but he shrugged it off and went to class.

* * *

As usual, Echizen slept through most of his morning classes and when lunch came, he went to go sleep on the roof of the school. He couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. It took a little more 'time and concentration' to fall asleep but he managed. After lunch, he slept through most of his afternoon classes. He still couldn't shake the feeling that someone had been watching him all day but he stopped thinking about that and started focusing on their match with Hyoutei as he fell back to sleep.

The bell had rung and Echizen awoke to Horio yelling in his ear to wake up. He lazily pushed Horio out of the way and got out of his seat then they both walked towards the tennis courts. Horio noticed that every now and then, Echizen would look over his shoulder.

"Oi Echizen, what's with you?" Horio asked as Echizen looked over his shoulder again.

"Betsuni." Echizen looked ahead and walked into the club room. The only thing that was bugging him was he still felt the eyes on him as he changed. A chill went up his spine.

He walked out from the club room and on to the courts in a bit of a daze. The only thing he heard was a voice _more _annoying than Horio's.

"Oi gaki, why are you all spaced out? You should be more alert now that Ore-sama has entered your line of sight." Echizen looked around until he saw Atobe standing in front of the gate to enter the courts with Kabaji and some of the other Hyoutei regulars playing matches against the Seigaku regulars. "Today is the day the great Ore-sama shall beat you down to the place you belong."

Echizen gave him an annoyed look. He looked behind himself once again then brushed past Atobe and walked into the courts. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Monkey king."

A vein on Atobe's forehead popped. "Oi, is that anyway to treat Ore-sama?"

Echizen ignored him and walked over to the other side of the courts where he was tackled by Kikumaru.

"Ochibi! What's wrong?" he asked with a smile.

"The thing that's wrong is you're strangling him!" Oishi came running after him just in time to save his young kouhai who was beginning to turn blue.

"Gomen Ochibi!" Kikumaru let him go. "But what's wrong?"

"Why would you assume something's wrong sempai?"

"Horio said you were acting strange on your way here." Echizen shot Horio a glare that made him shudder.

"Echizen, you're not sick are you? You do look a little paler. Maybe you should go see the nurse." Oishi was fully in mother hen mode.

"I'm not sick Oishi-sempai. Nothing's wrong." He pushed past Oishi and Kikumaru and went to a bench. He could still feel eyes watching him from somewhere.

"Gaki, don't ignore Ore-sama." Atobe stood in front of him. "Let's play a match."

"Why?" he asked taking a sip of his Ponta that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "You'll lose."

Another vein popped. "Do you doubt Ore-sama abilities?"

"Yes." He stated bluntly. "That and the other times we've played you've lost."

Several veins popped. "Ore-sama was being graceful and letting you win."

"You always said that you went all out." Echizen finished his Ponta and started to walk over to Momo. Before he could, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"How about we play a match and if Ore-sama loses, he will give you a reward." Atobe's calm, cool composure was slowly dissipating.

This peaked Echizen's interest a little. "Hn? And what if I lose?"

"You must come to Hyoutei and be on our team."

"Why would I d-mmnph." His voice was stifled by Fuji's hand over his mouth.

"We accept." He said with a smile.

"Excellent. Ore-sama is looking forward to it." Atobe flipped his bangs and walked to where Hyoutei had put their things. Kabaji followed.

Fuji gave him a smile as they walked away. Echizen, however, gave him a glare then shifted his gaze to glare at Fuji.

"Fuji-sempai." He said as he took Fuji's hand from his mouth.

"You'll be fine. I have confidence in you." Fuji said with a smile. "Don't you have confidence?"

Echizen looked at him and sighed. _'It's not that I'm not confident Fuji-sempai.'_ He thought as he took a look around again. _'I just might not be able to concentrate.'_ He sighed again and walked over to his things. "Momo-sempai, warm me up." He shouted to Momo.

* * *

Momo help warm Echizen up then proceeded to the sidelines to watch the match.

"Echizen looks more aggravated than usual." Momo said pointing out how much more Echizen was scowling. "If he keeps that up, he'll look like you Mamoshi." He said with a smile as he patted Kaidou on the back.

Kaidou glared at him. "Fsshhh…"

"There's a lot riding on this match." Oshitari said as he and the other Hyotei regulars joined them on the sidelines.

"What do you mean?" Taka asked.

"According to Atobe-san, if he wins then Echizen-kun has to transfer to Hyoutei." Choutarou said.

"Nani? Why would Ochibi agree to that?" Kikumaru asked.

"He didn't." Gakuto said. "He did." He pointed to Fuji. Everyone looked to him.

"Fuji! Why would you accept something like that? What if he loses?" Oishi panicked. Echizen shot him a glare.

"Saa, it made things more interesting didn't it?" he said with a smile. "Besides, there's no way that Echizen would lose. Ne, Inui?"

Inui pulled out his notebook. "According to previous encounters, Echizen has a 76.8% chance that he will win."

"Nya, but that's not 100%! What if Ochibi has to transfer and then we have to face him?" Echizen switched his glare from Oishi to Kikumaru.

"There's no way that Echizen would lose to him!" Momo said. "Echizen, if you win, I'll treat you to all you can eat at the Burger Joint!"

Echizen smirked. "Don't regret those words Momo-sempai."

"Gaki, do we need put this match off to a later date? Ore-sama is getting tired of waiting." Atobe complained form the other side of the court.

"Heh. It's your funeral Monkey king." Echizen smirked and served the ball.

* * *

After a long time of rallying back and forth, Echizen won 7-5. As he walked to the net to shake Atobe's hand, he handed him an envelope.

"What's this?" he looked at it.

"It's your prize. I'll be back at the end of the week to come get you. You better not make Ore-sama wait." He shoved the envelope into Echizen hands and started to walk off the courts. "You can bring your teammates if you wish." He turned to everyone outside of the fence. "Ore-sama will be waiting." He then turned to his own teammates. "Shishido, Hiyoshi, grab Ore-sama's things."

"Eh?" Shishido voiced.

"Why do we have to do it?" Hiyoshi asked.

"Would you rather carry Jirou?" he gestured to the sleeping boy slumped over Kabaji's shoulder. They both sweat dropped. "Then carry Ore-sama's things." He turned to Seigaku regulars. "I look forward to a match with you next time, Tezuka."

"Ah." Tezuka's stoic face stayed the same.

"Until next time then." With that, Atobe led the Hyoutei regulars from the tennis courts and out of the school.

All the regulars watched as they left then went to the court where Echizen was staring at the envelope in his hand. It was purple and had a sticker of Atobe's face sealing it shut. **(chibi face)**

"What did he give you Echizen?" Taka asked.

Echizen stared at the envelope then gave it to Taka. "I could care less." He took his things and went towards the club room.

Taka watched him walk away then looked at the envelope in his hand. "Should we open it?"

"Nya, let me!" Taka handed the envelope to Kikumaru and he opened it. He took out a letter and read it aloud.

"_You are here by invited to join Atobe Keigo and the rest of the Hyotei regulars on their yearly camping trip. It will be held from XX to XX on Mount XX. A bus will be at Seishun Gakuen at XX:XX to pick you up. You will need enough clothes for one week. We will be dropped off around XX:XX and the only people that will be there will be the people that came on the bus. We look forward to seeing you._

_-Atobe Keigo"_

"That's such a lie. Atobe would never look forward to seeing anyone but himself." Momo said as he took the letter from Kikumaru's hands.

"A camping trip? That sounds fun, Ne Tezuka?" Fuji asked with a smile. Tezuka's expressionless face stayed expressionless.

"I think it will be fun to get to know everyone more." Taka said.

"Hoi hoi! I wanna go! I haven't been camping in a long time. You'll come right Oishi?" Kikumaru asked as he started jumping with excitement.

"That's not our decision Eiji. Atobe gave this to Echizen." he said trying to calm him down.

"Fsshhh, I doubt that Echizen will go." Kaidou said trying to further Oishi's point.

"There is a 34.6% chance that Echizen is interested but only a 12.7% chance that he will actually go." Inui said reading from his notebook.

"Nya, but that's not fair! Ochibi has to go!" Kikumaru took the letter out of Momo's hand and ran towards the club room. "O-chi-bi! Say that you'll g-"

"What are you doing here?" Kikumaru heard him talking to someone.

"You're so mean to me! Why can't we get along?" the other voice said.

"Oi, what the hell? Get off of me!" that's all Kikumaru could stand to hear.

"Ochibi!" he burst into the room ready to save his defenseless kouhai. "What do you think your- EH?"

"Kikumaru-kun, it's been a while hasn't it?" Kikumaru walked in to see a sight he never thought would be possible.

"What is it sempai?" Kaidou asked as he and the other regulars came to the room.

"R-Ryoga-san!" he said as he pointed inside the club room.

* * *

**Well? How was it? I started this story from scratch unlike my other one. I know that this chapter was **_**super**_** boring to read as much as it was to write. I promise that there will be more action and suspense in chapters to come.**

**Sorry if the names of the Hyoutei regulars are wrong. The only reason that I chose to make a story with them in it was because I love how Atobe refers to himself in third person.**

**Comment and review for me so I have the strength to go on! **

**Forgive stupid mistakes!**

**Bye~!**


	2. Inside the Club Room

**I'm back! How did everyone like the first chapter? I know it was really bland but I'll try to make this one awesome and suspenseful.**

**The backstory with how everyone met Ryoga is changed a little… well, they still met him on the cruise but after that, he's randomly shown up at their practices a few times each year, so that's how everyone knows him :P**

_**iLoVeYaOi:**_**No, Ryoga isn't a bad guy. I can tell by your name that you love yaoi but I'm sorry to say that there will be no major pairings. I'll try to incorporate some things but no promises :P **

**God, I hate the beginnings of stories. They're so boring and I have to say that I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis constantly.**

**Here's chapter two. Enjoy.**

* * *

"You're so mean to me! Why can't we get along?" the other voice said.

"Oi, what the hell? Get off of me!" that's all Kikumaru could stand to hear.

"Ochibi!" he burst into the room ready to save his defenseless kouhai. "What do you think your- EH?"

"Kikumaru-kun, it's been a while hasn't it?" Kikumaru walked in to see a sight he never thought would be possible.

"What is it sempai?" Kaidou asked as he and the other regulars came to the room.

"R-Ryoga-san!" he said as he pointed inside the club room.

* * *

"Eh?" Momo poked his head inside the room to see Echizen encased in his brother's arms and burst out laughing.

"What's so funny Momo-sempai?" Echizen glared at him through his brother's arms.

"Momoshiro-kun!" Ryoga looked happy to see him.

"I've *snicker* told you before *snort* Ryoga-san, call me *giggle* Momo-chan." Momo could hardly talk he was laughing so hard. Echizen was slumped on his knees with his head on his brother's chest. Ryoga had his arms around his head to the point where he could barely see.

"Ryoga-san!" everyone else started crowding into the club room.

"Minna!" his face brightened.

"Why are you here?" Oishi asked.

"I have a few weeks free from practice and school and I wanted to spend it with my baby brother." He hugged Echizen tighter. Echizen grunted and gave an annoyed look as he tried one again to escape his brother's grasp.

"Nya, you came at a perfect time! You can come camping with us!" Kikumaru said flailing the letter around.

"Camping?" Ryoga's grip on Echizen loosened and he was able to break free.

"What do you mean camping Kikumaru-sempai?" Echizen asked as he sat on the ground and fixed his hat.

"That's your prize for beating Atobe. You get to go camping with the Hyotei regulars for a week." Momo said as he took the letter from Kikumaru's hands and handed it to Echizen. He took the letter and read through it.

"Nya, wouldn't it be fun to go camping on our week off?" Kikumaru said with a big smile.

"We would have to see if everyone knows what to do in difficult situations." Oishi said.

"Saa, we could get to know our opponents better." Fuji said. "Ne, Tezuka?"

"Hn." Tezuka kept his answer as short as possible.

"It would provide a good time to get more data on everyone and how they act in those types of situations." Inui said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Fsshhh… it's not our decision sempai-tachi." Kaidou said.

"Kaidou's right. As much fun as it sounds, it's Echizen's choice." Taka said.

"There's no way that Echizen would want to go camping with Hyoutei. Right Echizen?" Momo asked clapping him on the back.

"Actually, I think I will go." He said lowering the letter from his eyes to look at everyone.

"Eh? Hontou?" everyone except Tezuka and Fuji were shocked. "Why? I would have thought that would have turned it down like that." Momo snapped his fingers.

"I bet I can answer that." Ryoga took the letter from his brother. "Chibisuke actually loves camping. We used to go quite often when we lived in America." He set his hand on Echizen's head.

"You'll really go Ochibi?" Kikumaru asked.

Echizen removed his brother's hand from his head. "I see no reason why I shouldn't, even if the Monkey king will be there."

"Yah Hoi! Camping! I'm gonna go home and pack right now!" Kikumaru gathered all this things and ran out the club door in the direction of his house.

"Eiji matte! It's not until next week!" Oishi grabbed his things and ran after Kikumaru.

"Saa, I think that means that practice is over." Fuji said with a smile. "Ne, Tezuka?"

Tezuka sighed. He announced to everyone that practice had ended and everyone gathered their things and began to head home. Echizen questioned Momo about his promise to treat him to 'all you can eat' burgers. Momo sweat dropped and told him he had 'family matters' to attend to and he could do it that day. Echizen knew that he really meant that he didn't have any money and couldn't do it that day. With that, Momo rode home ahead of him, leaving him to walk home with Ryoga.

"How long have you been back? I don't like the idea of you watching me at school." Echizen said as he and Ryoga walked down the street.

"What are you talking about? I got here about two hours ago. I haven't been watching you. I don't even know my way around. I got lost just trying to find the school." Ryoga replied.

Echizen didn't seem too thrilled to hear that. After Ryoga was discovered in the club room, Echizen just assumed that it was him who was following him around all day and the feeling went away but know that he knew his brother was only there for the end of the day, he became a little uneasy. He glanced over his shoulder.

"What's up Chibisuke?" he caught site of his brother's glance.

"Betsuni." Echizen could have sworn that he saw someone watching them walk as they turned the corner.

* * *

Upon returning home, Echizen was greeted by Karupin and Nanako. He ventured to his room to discover that his bed had been taken over by Ryoga's luggage.

"What the hell is this?" he asked very bluntly and un-amused.

"Ah, Kaa-san said that until she fixes a room for me, I get to share with you." Ryoga replied with a smile as he slung his arm around his brother's shoulders. "Isn't it great? We'll get to sleep together just like when we were younger."

Echizen deadpanned at the phrase 'sleep together'. He didn't like sleeping together with anyone except Karupin. He could stand sleeping in the same room but if they had to sleep in the same bed… he'd rather just not do it.

"Do you want the right or the left side?" Ryoga had gone to the bed and cleared away his bags and wondered what side of the bed he wanted to sleep on.

Not wanting to bother with it, Echizen sighed and went out of the room. "Chibisuke, where are you going?" Ryoga yelled to him.

"I'm going to bathe." He said as he walked down the hall.

"Do you want me to wash your back for you?" Ryoga asked teasingly.

"Yadda." Echizen answered as he slammed the bathroom door.

* * *

While soaking in the bath, Echizen couldn't help but think about what the feeling he had was. He knew that he was being watched it was just a matter of who was watching him and how long. He's had stalkers before, mainly overly obsessive fan girls and a few guys every now and then. But this time, it didn't feel like a fan. It felt like someone, diverse, like they wanted something from him. He sighed and blew bubbles in the water. Hopefully, tomorrow would be different and he would be able to 'concentrate on his classes'. **(aka, get to sleep in class faster)**

He exited the bathroom to find Ryoga curled up on his bed like Karupin. He sighed again but not fully out of frustration. He was actually glad his brother was back. As little as it may have seemed, he did miss him when he was gone. He let a small smile creep onto his face.

"Hn? Chibisuke? Are you ready to go to sleep now?" Ryoga mumbled as he rubbed his eyes.

"Heh, baka. You're on my side of the bed." He replied as he shoved Ryoga to the other side.

Ryoga smiled as his brother lay beside him. "Good night Chibisuke."

"Good night, Aniki." Echizen lay down beside him and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The night was passing by smoothly until Echizen had woken up to his cell phone ringing. He wondered how Ryoga could still be asleep. With Ryoga being a lite sleeper, he didn't understand why he woke up and his brother didn't. He picked it up, not even looking at who was calling him and answered it. He was both angry and tired and ready to yell at the person on the other line.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" he asked in a sleepy and irritated voice.

"_Echizen Ryoma, you made a joke out of my family and you will pay."_ the person on the other line said then hung up.

Echizen didn't understand what the person meant, nor did he really care. All he wanted to do was sleep. He set his phone down and checked the time. The red lights of his clock read 4:37am. What devil in hell would wake him up at such an ungodly hour and not even give a proper conversation? He plopped his head back on his pillow and went back to sleep.

* * *

The night from then on was peaceful, that is, until his phone rang again. Again, he picked it up without looking at the caller ID and answered it in an even more irritated tone.

"Why the hell are you calling me so early in the morning?" he looked at his clock which now read 6:42am.

"_Do you accept Ore-sama's gift?"_ Echizen did not like hearing annoying voices in the morning, especially the one of the extremely vain and arrogant Monkey king.

"Couldn't this wait until later?" Echizen plopped his head back on the pillow.

"_Ore-sama waits for no one. What is your answer?"_

"Yes. Never call me at such an early hour again." With that, Echizen hung up on Atobe and turned his phone on silent, only thinking of that after being woken up a second time.

He fell back asleep for a while or so until he was woken up by Karupin licking his nose and Ryoga gently shaking him.

"Okiru Chibisuke." Ryoga pulled the blankets off of him.

"Hmnnn… five more minutes…" he took a pillow and covered his head.

"Chibisuke, you'll be late if you wait five more minutes."

Echizen took the pillow off his head. "What?"

Ryoga held the clock in front of his face. "See?"

Echizen looked at the big red numbers on his clock and jumped out of bed. "Baka! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" he shouted as he changed into his school uniform and gathered his things together and rushed downstairs.

"Mou, but you look so adorable and peaceful while you're sleeping." Ryoga playfully shouted to him.

Echizen was in the kitchen eating a few bites of his breakfast when he heard Momo shouting to him from outside. "Oi Echizen! Hurry up! Buchou will make us run double if were late again!"

Echizen shoved a piece of toast in his mouth and ran for the door. "Ittekimasu!"

"Oi Chibisuke, do you want me to pick you up?" Ryoga shouted as he came down the stairs.

"I don't care!" he slipped on his shoes and ran out to meet Momo.

"Heh, things never change. Ne, Nanoko-chan?"

Nanoko looked at Ryoga and smiled. "Sometimes, that's a good thing."

* * *

"Ha, you look horrible." Momo said as Echizen hopped onto the back of his bike.

"Urasi." Echizen placed himself so that he would be able to lean on Momo's back then Momo took off towards school. Echizen took out his phone for no particular reason and noticed that he had a message. He opened his phone to check.

"_I left something for you in your locker. Hope you enjoy it."_ He read.

"Hm? Did you say something Echizen?" Momo asked.

"Iya, nothing." He didn't really care. He merely thought that it was a girl from his fan club who somehow got his number and probably left him a box of chocolate or something. He really didn't want to deal with anything right now. He didn't get a good night sleep and Tezuka was probably going to make them run laps. He didn't like how this day was starting out.

* * *

"Echizen, Momoshiro, get changed then do 10 laps." Just as he expected. The first thing out of Tezuka's mouth was a command of laps. The only reason why it wasn't as severe as it has been is because Momo peddled faster than The Flash™ to get there. They arrived just as the bell rang but seeing as they had to be dressed and on the courts when the bell rang, they still had to run.

"Hai." Momo and Echizen simply didn't argue and went into the club room to get changed.

"Saa, at least they were here when the bell rang. Why not cut them a break?" Fuji said with a smile.

"Would you like to join them?" Tezuka asked while adjusting his glasses. Fuji merely smiled and went to warm up.

Upon entering the club room and opening his locker, Echizen found a small box on his uniform.

"Nani kore?" he took the box and opened it. Inside was a small black tennis ball.

"Waa, that's cool! Who's it from? Does it say? Get me one!" Momo was completely jealous.

Just as he was about to check the box for a name, his cell phone rang. Still examining the box, he answered his phone, again without looking.

"Moshi moshi?"

"_So, Echizen Ryoma, do you like my gift?"_

Echizen looked at the box then handed it to Momo but kept the ball in his hand. "Who is this?"

"_No one important. Do you like it?"_

"What's to like? It's just a black tennis ball." He looked at Momo.

"_I'm hurt. I spent a lot of time on that to make it just right." _Echizen heard rather loud beep. He looked at Momo and Momo looked at him, both wondering where it came from. _"Ah. I think that it's time."_

"Time for what? Who is this?"

Echizen could tell that the person on the other line smiled. _"Ciao, Echizen Ryoma. Try not to get hurt."_ With a click, the person hung up and all Echizen heard was a dial tone.

"Who was it?" Momo asked as he set the box down.

Echizen didn't answer. He tucked his phone in his pocket and took a good long look at the ball in his hand. _'Try not to get hurt.'_ The person's words echoed through his head. He heard another loud beep.

"Where's that beeping coming from?" Momo looked around the room. There was another beep, the time between each one getting shorter and shorter. "I think it's coming from that." He pointed to the ball in Echizen's hand.

The beeping got faster. Echizen looked at the black ball in his hand and his face was horror struck. "Momo-sempai."

"N-Nani?" Momo saw the horror on his kouhai's face.

"Doesn't this, sort of look, like… a bomb?"

Neither of them had time to react. The constant beeping stopped and was followed by a long, drawn out one, followed by an explosion.

* * *

**MWAHAHA! Cliff hanger! *dodges bullets* I know. I hate them too. I promised myself I wouldn't do it but… it's too tempting.**

**What if the story ended right there? The ball exploded and them Momo and Ryoma were caught in the blast and died. That would suck. Don't worry. I wouldn't do that to them. I love them too much.**

**Did you like it? I thought the moment with Ryoma and Ryoga were cute. Tell me what you liked! Tell me what you didn't! Tell me what made you happy and sad! Review for me peoplez!**

**I'll try to get chapters out quick but this week is the last week of school and I have finals so I'm not promising anything… even though I probably won't study and work on this story.**

**Haha whatever. See ya next time!**


	3. AfterMath

**Chapter 3! Yeah! I'm proud of myself. Did you guys like the last one? *rock gets chucked at head* I know. I left you with a cliff hanger and you hate me for it but don't worry. There will be plenty more. Heh heh heh…**

**I do appreciate when you guys review so, make me happy and tell me what you thought. I know this isn't like a 'Hey! Look at me! I'm full of action and adventure!' type of story but it's getting there! If anyone has questions or anything, feel free to ask!**

**Okay, I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis, no matter how much I tell myself that I do.**

**Chapter 3. Enjoy!**

* * *

The beeping got faster. Echizen looked at the black ball in his hand and his face was horror struck. "Momo-sempai."

"N-Nani?" Momo saw the horror on his kouhai's face.

"Doesn't this, sort of look, like… a bomb?"

Neither of them had time to react. The constant beeping stopped and was followed by a long, drawn out one, followed by an explosion.

* * *

"Saa, why not cut them some slack?" Fuji asked with a smile.

"Would you care to join them?" Tezuka adjusted his glasses. Fuji just smiled and went to warm up.

"This was the first time in a while that they were actually here when the bell rang." Taka said.

"Fsshhh… they both live closer than any of us. Why are they never here first?" Kaidou asked.

"They're just not morning people. It can't be helped." Oishi said.

"My data shows that, not only are they not morning people, but they are also lazy, incomprehensive and slower than most of the people here." Inui said reading from his notebook.

"Mou, don't blame them. They can't help it!" Kikumaru said trying to defend them. "Plus, Ochibi's brother is here. That could have something to do with it."

Tezuka sighed and rubbed his temples. He didn't like how he had to deal with this almost every day. Most of the time, it was just him instructing everyone in the morning since Ryuzaki-sensei didn't arrive until later.

"Kikumaru." Tezuka's voice was a stern as ever.

Kikumaru froze in place and slowly turned to face Tezuka. "A-Ah?"

"Go see what's taking them so long. And tell them they now have 20 laps for making us wait."

"Hai!" Kikumaru was happy to go see why Momo and Echizen were taking long. They were the next ones he had a strong bond with beside Oishi. He happily skipped out of the gate and went towards the club room.

"O-chi-bi! Mo-mo! Tezuka says you have to run even more if you don't hurry!" he half singingly shouted as he skipped towards the club room door. "Ochibi, M-" he stopped when he heard a loud boom then saw smoke come out of the club room. "Ochibi! Momo!" he ran to the club room and opened the door to a huge cloud of smoke.

"Eiji! What was that sound?" Oishi and the others came running towards him as he fanned the smoke from his face. "What's with all this smoke?"

Kikumaru turned to face him and was about to answer when he heard coughing from inside the room. He turned back to the room to see Echizen and Momo coming out, coughing and fanning the smoke from their faces.

"Echizen! Momo!" everyone rushed to them. They were slumped on the ground trying to regain their breath. "What happened? What was that explosion?" Taka was patting Momo while Fuji was helping Echizen breath properly.

Tezuka knelt in front of them. "Echizen, Momoshiro, what happened?" his voice was stern but showed more concern than it normally did.

"Phone call… box… black ball… bomb…" Momo couldn't string together a sentence.

"What do you mean?" Fuji's eyes opened at the word 'bomb'.

He got his breath back. "There was this… box in his locker and it… had a black tennis ball in it."

Echizen stifled his coughing. "I got a call on my phone. The person on the other line asked if I liked the gift they left."

"They? You don't know who it was?" Inui asked with his notebook to his face.

"Iya, I didn't recognize the number and they wouldn't tell me who it was. I kept asking who it was but they wouldn't answer then we heard a beep."

"A beep?" Taka asked.

"Ah." Momo continued the story. "There was a beep, then another and another. Pretty soon it was one right after the other then it went flat like one of those heart monitors in the hospital."

"Echizen, where you still on the phone?" Fuji asked.

"Iie, the person told me to be careful then hung up." He looked at his hand. It was full of burns and bloody.

"Echizen! Where you holding that thing when it exploded?" Oishi grabbed his hand causing him to flinch. "You could have lost your hand!"

"It actually wasn't that big of an explosion." Momo said.

"Fsshhh, how could it have been a small explosion?" Kaidou gestured to all the smoke still pouring out of the club room.

"That smoke is from smoke bombs. We heard some crackling before the explosion then smoke started coming out if it. The ball was probably filled with fireworks."

Everyone looked at them. Who could have done this? Why would someone want to attack Echizen? Sure he was a cocky first year tennis prodigy but that wouldn't give anyone a reason to go this far. Tezuka stared at Echizen who was getting his hand treated by Oishi.

"Echizen, Momoshiro, go get treated at the nurse's office. Oishi and Kawamara go with them."

Echizen didn't refuse when Tezuka told him to go to the nurses'. His hand was in immense pain. He couldn't even fold it let alone move it without pain shooting up his arm. He gladly let Oishi and Taka led him and Momo to the nurse's office. With a quick turn of the corner, they were gone.

* * *

Tezuka gave Fuji a stern look then walked off in the direction to the nurse's office. Fuji answered his look with a nod.

"Kaidou, Eiji, start to clear out the rest of this smoke." Fuji then took out his phone. "Inui, can make a list of everyone who would want to do this?"

Kaidou, Kikumaru and Inui nodded. Fuji dialed a number on his phone then told everyone else on the courts that practice was over. When questioned with what had happened, Fuji merely told them that someone was playing a prank and it didn't quiet go as they planned.

"Nya, let's do this!" Kikumaru started to walk into the club room when Kaidou stopped his. "Hm? Nani?" Kaidou pulled an extra bandana from his pocket and placed it in this hand. "What's this for?"

"Tie it around your mouth sempai. It will stop you from inhaling some of the smoke." He then took the one from his head and tied it around his mouth. Kikumaru let out a giggle. "What's so funny sempai?"

"You look like a robber from the Wild West!" Kikumaru was laughing at how much Kaidou resembled a bandit. Kaidou merely hissed and went into the club room. "Oi! Wait for me! We can pretend that we to save the princess!"

"That makes no sense sempai."

* * *

Tezuka made his way to the nurse's office. He saw Momo lying on a bed and Echizen was getting his hand wrapped in gauze by the nurse.

"Tezuka!" Oishi was watching Echizen when he saw Tezuka walk through the door and got up to greet him.

"How are they?" he asked.

"Momo only inhaled some of the smoke. She said that it would be best to let him sleep it off." Taka said rising from his seat.

"What about him?" he gestured to Echizen who was flinching at every move the nurse made.

"Well," Oishi looked back at him. "Echizen has some pretty deep cuts and first degree burns. He can barely touch anything without it hurting." Tezuka saw the nurse spray something on Echizen's hand, causing him to flinch. "She said that it will take a while for it to fully heal." Tezuka sighed.

"Okay, all done. Try not to touch anything with that hand." They heard the nurse say.

"Arigatou." Echizen thanked her and walked over to Tezuka. "Buchou."

"Echizen, stay here and rest. You are excused from afternoon practice too."

He was about to say something but he saw the look on his, Oishi's and Taka's faces. They were looks of concern, even Tezuka's. He then thought that he would be able to catch up on the sleep that he lost that night so he decided not to argue and stay in the nurse's office.

"We'll have someone come and check how you are doing later." Tezuka said as he headed out the door. "When he wakes up," he pointed to Momo, "tell him that he still has to come to practice."

Echizen smirked. "Hai."

"I hope you feel better soon Echizen." Taka said as he exited the room.

"Don't go anywhere Echizen. You need to stay here and rest." Oishi said.

"Hai." Echizen laid down on the bed next to Momo's and tried to sleep.

* * *

"Fuji-sempai."

"Hm? What is it Kaidou?"

"Shouldn't you be helping with something?" Kaidou and Kikumaru were fanning the remaining smoke out of the club room; Inui was making a list of enemies that Echizen had and Taka, Oishi and Tezuka were with Echizen.

"I am doing something." He answered as he dialed another number on his phone. Kaidou sweat dropped.

"Did you find anything?" everyone turned to see Tezuka walking towards them with Oishi and Taka following him.

"Buchou-" Kaidou was cut off.

"Nya, Tezuka look." Kikumaru held out his hands. There were a total of four smoke bombs, two firecrackers, a half of a smaller ball and a small clock. "Here. Smell this." He took the small part of the ball and gave it to Tezuka.

He took a smell and his eyes narrowed. "Gun powder?"

"I analyzed it. By mixing the right amount of gun powder and fireworks, it can make different types of explosions." Inui said reading from his notebook.

"Did you figure out who would want to do this to him?" Oishi asked.

"I've made a list of possible suspects but they wouldn't do anything like this."

Tezuka looked around in the club room. He caught sight of a charred piece of paper and read it.

"Minna, look at this." He exited the club room and showed everyone the paper.

Inui adjusted his glasses and read the note aloud. _"I hope that you enjoyed my gift. I look forward to seeing you."_

They all looked at the note then at each other.

"What did they mean by 'look forward to seeing you'?" Taka asked.

No one answered. They all kept staring at the note. Before anyone had a chance to do anything, the bell rang. Tezuka took the note and placed it in his pocket. "We need to keep watch over Echizen for the next few days." He said.

"Ah. At least until Atobe comes to get us." Inui added.

They all nodded. They all gathered their things and went to class.

* * *

When Tezuka, Oishi and Taka left the infirmary, Echizen tried to get to sleep. It was more difficult than usual for several different reasons; Momo wouldn't stop snoring, his hand hurt but mainly because he was dazed. He couldn't stop his shaking. He was scared. What would have happened if he or Momo got seriously injured? He was glad that Momo didn't get hurt.

He tried to lie down in a comfortable position but seeing as he usually put both hands behind his head, he couldn't so he put one hand behind and the other over his eyes and tried to fall asleep even with Momo snoring.

Little did he know, while he was sleeping, each of the regulars stopped in to see if there were any strange people with him. When it was Kikumaru's turn to visit, he heard raised voices and went in to see Momo yelling at Echizen because he threw a pillow at him to stop his snoring. Kikumaru laughed and since Momo was now awake, he took him away so that Echizen could rest. Echizen decided that even if he was excused from afternoon practice, he could still go and 'critique' the other players.

After a few more hours of on and off sleep, Echizen thanked the nurse and headed out to the courts. He passed the club room. It had a sign on the doorframe that said, 'Do Not Close Door'. As he passed it, he could still smell the lingering smell of the smoke. He walked onto the courts to see all the regulars minus Tezuka and Oishi in practice matches.

"Echizen!" Oishi ran over to him.

"Oishi-sempai." He turned to meet him.

"How are you feeling? Is your hand alright?"

"Ah. It doesn't sting as much as before."

"Echizen, why are you here?" Tezuka asked. "I said that you excused. You should be home."

Echizen look at him. Tezuka would usually yell at him the next day if he was excused and he went home instead of staying to watch everyone else practice.

"Tezuka's right Echizen. You should be at home and rest some more. You've had a traumatic day." He stopped his motherly rant for a moment and thought. "But will it be alright if we send you home by yourself? After what happened, I don't think that it would be a good idea."

"That won't be an issue Oishi." Fuji finished his match. "I've arranged for something that will get Echizen home safely." A smile crossed his lips as he heard yelling in the distance.

"What's that noise?" Oishi turned to look behind.

"…uke…ch…suke…chibi…ke…"

Echizen sweat dropped many times as he saw a figure running towards them.

"Chibisuke!" everyone stopped what they were doing and saw the figure run into the courts and tackle Echizen then pull him in a hug that put Kikumaru's to shame. "Chibisuke! Don't die! Your big brother's here for you!"

"W-What ar-e you-" Echizen's air was being cut off. "O-Ois-hi-se-mp-ai-"

"Ah! Ryoga-san, the only way he will die is lack of oxygen!" Oishi quickly turned mother hen.

After calming him down, letting Echizen breath again and Tezuka ordering everyone back to practice, they explained what had happened.

"Oh, Fuji-kun made it sound a little different on the phone." Ryoga sighed with relief.

Echizen gave Fuji a look. "What did you tell him Fuji-sempai?" Fuji just smiled.

"He said that you were caught in an explosion that nearly killed you and that you were crying for me while being treated in the nurse's office."

Both Echizen and Tezuka gave him a glare. "Fuji, 10 laps now." Tezuka commanded.

"Saa, it was worth it." Fuji smiled and started his laps. Echizen sighed.

"Anyway, seeing that it's dangerous for you to be alone, I'm going to come get you every day from now on."

Echizen deadpanned. "N-Nani?"

"And I'm sure that your friends won't leave you alone." He smiled at Tezuka and Oishi.

"O-Oi!"

"Come on Chibisuke. We'll go home and have Nanoko-chan fix you your favorite dish." Ryoga placed his arm around Echizen's head and dragged him out of the courts.

"C-Chotto! M-Matte!" Echizen was trying to get out of his grasp but it was rather difficult with only one hand.

"I'll bring your things by after practice!" Momo shouted to him.

* * *

That was how the rest of the week went by. Echizen was picked up by Momo, the regulars all took turns watching him and Ryoga came to pick him up. He didn't really mind except they followed him everywhere. They even went into the bathroom before he did to make sure that no one was waiting to ambush him. He enjoyed his time with Momo the best. They were usually together during lunch and after Echizen took some of Momo's lunch, they both went and slept on the roof.

Thankfully, the week was over. Saturday finally came and everyone met at the school at the appointed time. Echizen was very unhappy. The sun was only just now starting to come up. He was very grumpy considering that he and Ryoga had been sharing the same bed since he arrived.

"Ochibi!" Kikumaru pounced on him. "I hope that I get to share a room with you!" Echizen didn't even have enough energy to fight him off. All he wanted to do was sleep.

A little later, Atobe's bus finally arrived. It was a big, glorious charter bus with his face on the side of it. Everyone sweat dropped when it pulled up.

"Oi, what are you doing? Are you captivated by Ore-sama's dexterity?"

* * *

**Haha, Atobe, you're so self-centered. This chapter isn't that much of a cliff hanger. At least no one go seriously injured in the blast.**

**I hope that everyone has like the first few chapters so far. Things might get a little hectic by the end of this week cuz that's when my finals are so I might skip a day or two and actually study for them.**

**Tell me what you thought! Thank you to all the peoples who have reviewed and faved! I love you all!  
**

**Please to forgive stupid mistakes!  
**

**See you in a little while! Bye!**


	4. Bunkmates

**Back again! So much for studying for finals. Hey everyone! How's it going? I hope everyone has been waiting intensely for the new chapter.**

**Okay, this is where is going to start to get good… hopefully. I apologize in advance if any of the Hyoutei characters are off in anyway. I'm just reading what Wikipedia tells me. You can tell me if their personalities are off and I need to fix it! I would appreciate it lots!**

**I really do hate doing this. I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.**

**Let's see how long Echizen can take Atobe's self-centeredness. Chapter 4 Enjoy!**

* * *

"Ochibi!" Kikumaru pounced on him. "I hope that I get to share a room with you!" Echizen didn't even have enough energy to fight him off. All he wanted to do was sleep.

A little later, Atobe's bus finally arrived. It was a big, glorious charter bus with his face on the side of it. Everyone sweat dropped when it pulled up.

"Oi, what are you doing? Are you captivated by Ore-sama dexterity?"

* * *

Echizen gave Atobe the most annoyed look as he poked his head out of a window.

"Is there something wrong with Ore-sama's transportation?"

Echizen really didn't want to argue. All he wanted to do was get on the bus and sleep. Atobe scanned the regulars until he saw a face he didn't recognize. "Who are you?" he pointed to Ryoga.

"Ah, Echizen Ryoga. Yoroshikune." He replied with a bow. "I'm this guy's aniki." He placed his hand on Echizen's head.

"Eh? The brat has a brother?" Atobe was a little shocked.

"At least I'm not a monkey." Echizen removed Ryoga's hand. One of Atobe's veins popped.

"Oi, are we going to stay here all day?" Jirou shouted from inside the bus. "Let's get going!" Everyone was a little surprised to see Jirou awake. The thought of _'Maybe, he's nocturnal.' _popped into a few minds of the regulars.

The door to the bus opened and all the regulars piled in. Since the bus was massive, they were all able to get their own seats. Echizen went straight to the back of the bus and made a pillow with his bag, placed it on one of the seats, raised the arm rest and laid down to sleep.

* * *

After what seemed like an hour or two on the bus, they finally arrive at the campsite. It sort of looked like a training camp but without any courts and it was on top of a mountain practically in the middle. The bus driver almost got lost trying to find the right way.

"Welcome" Atobe stood up. "To the Hyoutei Academy Camp Grounds."

The Seigaku regulars, except Echizen and Tezuka, all looked out the windows in awe. For once, it was actually like Atobe said it would be. There were fire pits, tables, cabins, all the things you would need to go camping. There weren't even any of Atobe's servants there. They were really the only ones.

After waking Echizen and Jirou up, everyone exited the bus, thanked the driver and walked up to one of the tables.

"First order of business," Atobe automatically elected himself leader. "we need to decide who is sleeping where."

"Well, Echizen and Jirou-sempai are over there." Momo pointed to a table not too far away where Echizen and Jirou were both asleep with their heads resting on it. Snickers were heard from both sets of students.

Atobe cleared his throat. "Anyway, Ore-sama has devised a magnificent plan. Kabaji."

"Usu." Kabaji set Atobe's bags down. Atobe got into the smaller one and pulled out a bag with slips of paper in it.

"We'll decide at random. Ore-sama will choose a name then the one whose name is drawn will choose one. We have six cabins and there are eighteen of us so we will be in groups of three. Ore-sama will choose first." Atobe reached his hand into the bag and pulled out a slip of paper. "Inui."

Everyone looked at Inui. He was face deep in his notebook scribbling notes and flipping pages like mad.

"Inui." Atobe called him again.

"Hm? Nani?" Inui pulled his face from his notebook.

"Saa, you need to choose a someone." Fuji said pointing to the bag.

"Ah." He walked to Atobe and slipped his hand into the bag. "Gakuto."

They all looked at him. "Hah. I guess that I can deal with that." Gakuto said with a bored tone.

"These will be the people who are in Cabin One. Gakuto, pick the first one for Cabin Two." Atobe gestured to the three then shifted the bag towards him and he reached in and pick out a slip of paper.

"Kikumaru."

"Yah hoi!" Kikumaru jumped happily. "Now let me pick!" He happily hopped over to Atobe and stuck his hand in the bag. "Shishido-san."

Shishido looked slightly annoyed. He walked to the bag and pulled out a paper. "Ryoga."

"I look forward to be staying with you." He said with a smile.

The cycle went on until everyone had a group. Cabin One: Atobe, Inui and Gakuto. Cabin Two: Kikumaru, Shishido and Ryoga. Cabin Three: Taka, Oishi and Momo. Cabin Four: Tezuka, Kaidou and Kabaji. Cabin Five: Oshitari, Hiyoshi and Fuji. Cabin Six: Choutaro, Jirou and Echizen. Everyone looked sorry for Choutaro, having to be with the two who would rather sleep all day but he didn't seem to mind that much.

* * *

After Atobe explained to everyone that there were bathrooms with running water and that there was another cabin that was used for food, he told them that they would have to cook their own food unless they were all eating together. They would all take turns gathering wood for the fire and washing the dishes in the stream that was nearby.

After all the explaining was done, Fuji and Oshitari woke up Echizen and Jirou and told them that they were staying in cabin six with Choutaro. Jirou didn't mind but for Echizen, somehow he figured that it was the farthest away meaning that it would take more time for him to get back to sleep. Nonetheless, he gathered his things and headed towards the cabin with the sleepy Jirou a high-spirited Choutaro.

Before everyone was out of site, Atobe shouted something to everybody. "Oi, there should a blow horn in each of your cabins if anything goes wrong."

"Why would anything go wrong?" Fuji asked.

"Not that anything would happen, but there have been bear sighting up here every now and then." Oshitari said. "It's just a precaution."

With that said, everyone went on their way towards their cabins.

* * *

**With Atobe, Inui and Gakuto**

"Since Ore-sama is leader, he gets first pick of beds." Atobe stopped outside of the cabin just to tell them.

"That is highly illogical." Inui said.

"Why?" Atobe asked in a snarky tone.

"No one made you leader. All data points to me being an acceptable leader."

"And why is that? You are clearly not as great as Ore-sama."

"I have a better understanding of things and data to back it up. Not to mention that I'm older."

"Only by a few months. And what does age have anything to do with it? Ore-sama is more beautiful."

Inui then flipped through a few pages of his notebook and began to read why he was more suited to be the leader of their cabin and what age had to do with it.

Gakuto sighed. "Why did I have to be with these two?" he asked himself under his breath. He opened the door to the cabin and went inside and plopped his things down on a bed. There were three bunk beds to choose from and he chose the one farthest from the door. He put his things on the top while he took the bottom and covered his head with a pillow. "This is going to be a long week." He could still hear Atobe and Inui arguing outside.

* * *

**With Kikumaru, Shishido and Ryoga**

"Yah hoi! I can't believe we're finally here! I don't know when the last time I went camping was!" Kikumaru was walking ahead of Ryoga and Shishido even though he had no idea where he was supposed to go.

"Kikumaru-san, please don't lead if you don't know where to go." Shishido said as he placed his palm to his forehead. Kikumaru just ignored him and kept walking straight ahead.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it sooner or later." Ryoga said with a smile.

Shishido sighed. "Ryoga-san, do you live with Echizen? I've never seen you at our matches." Shishido was sincerely interested.

"Iya, I was adopted by Tou-san and lived with them in America for a few years. I was scouted for a team then moved when I was old enough. Chibisuke came to live here with Tou-san and Kaa-san while I stayed in America. Whenever I have free time, I always come here to visit." He answered.

"What team were you scouted by?"

"The All American Team." Ryoga sounded bored as he said it.

Shishido deadpanned. He was talking to a player from the all American team? And even more, he was Echizen's brother? No wonder Echizen was so good. His father was the famous Samurai Nanjiro and his brother was on the all American team.

"Ah. That looks like our cabin." Ryoga pointed to a small cabin atop a small hill.

"Let's hurry! I want to go explore!" Kikumaru ran towards the cabin.

"Kikumaru-san, that's not the right way to go…" Shishido face palmed again.

* * *

**With Taka, Oishi and Momo**

"Oishi-sempai," Momo yelled to him. "Are we lost?"

"Of course not." Oishi held up a map that Oshitari drew up for them. "See? We're following the right trail." Even though the cabin wasn't that far, Momo, Oishi and Taka were a little directionally challenged.

"Oishi, you're holding the map upside down." Taka walked up and placed the map the right way.

"EH?" Oishi surprised and Momo was annoyed.

"Oishi-sempai, do you know how to read a map?" Momo looked at him accusingly.

"Of course I do!" he snapped back. "We just need to turn around and go…"

"We need to go east Oishi." Taka said pointing at the map.

"But that's the way we were going! If we were going east then shouldn't we go west?"

Taka started to explain about the different ways they would be able to reach their cabin without having to go back to the starting point when there was a rustle in the bushes.

"Did you hear that?" Momo was a little concerned.

"A-Ah." Taka and Oishi answered. "What do you think it was?"

"I heard Oshitari-san say that there have been bear sightings around here…"

There was another rustle. Everyone sweat dropped. "Sempai-tachi, I think- that we should…" the bush rustled again. "RUN!"

Oishi, Taka and Momo took off down the path that they came and ran all the way back to where the bus dropped them off and hoped that they would go the right way to their cabin this time.

* * *

**With Tezuka, Kaidou and Kabaji**

Tezuka, Kaidou and Kabaji walked in silence as they went to their assigned cabin. The only noises that were made were the occasional snapping of a tree branch or leaf falling from a tree. The three reached their destination. Still, not a word was said.

Tezuka took the bottom bunk of the bed next to the window and put his things above him. Kaidou took the top bunk next to the door. He used to share a room with his little brother and was accustomed to taking the top.

Tezuka and Kaidou both sweat dropped when they saw Kabaji take the top bunk of one of the remaining bed. It made a loud creak and his legs were almost completely hanging off. Nevertheless, they didn't seem to care too much. They were only thinking of how long of a trip this was going to be.

* * *

**With Oshitari, Hiyoshi and Fuji**

The walk to Fuji's, Oshitari's and Hiyoshi's cabin was a little longer than expected but Fuji didn't mind. He loved going on walks through the woods. It gave him more chances to photograph his surroundings.

"Saa, this forest is really beautiful." Fuji said as he took out his camera and took a picture.

"Do you really need to do that?" Hiyoshi asked.

"Hm? Nani?" Fuji turned to him and took a picture.

"That Fuji-sempai." Hiyoshi shielded his eyes. "That's annoying."

"Ah, gomen." Fuji switched the flash off and continued to take pictures. Hiyoshi gave him an annoyed look.

"Fuji-san, I think he means that the picture taking is annoying and not just the flash." Oshitari said.

"Really? You think so?" Fuji stuck the camera in their faces and took a picture. They both gave him an aggravated look. "Awe, come on. Smile."

"Oh look. We're here." Hiyoshi said pointing to the cabin in front of them.

"So we are." Fuji took a picture of the cabin then went inside and claimed his bed.

Hiyoshi and Oshitari both looked at each other. _'Why did we get placed with him?'_

* * *

**With Echizen, Choutaro and Jirou **

"Echizen-kun, Jirou-sempai, we can rest when we get to the cabin." Choutaro was practically dragging Jirou and Echizen to their cabin.

"Choutaro-sempai, are we close?" Echizen stopped behind him.

"Come on Echizen-kun. It's not that much farther." He looked around. "Where's Jirou-sempai?"

Echizen pointed behind him. Choutaro glanced behind him and saw Jirou lying on the ground using his bag as a pillow.

"Mou, Jirou-sempai. We'll never get to the cabin if you sleep right now." Choutaro went back to try to wake him.

"Choutaro-sempai, what happened to him being all wake earlier?"

"Ah, Jirou-sempai is like an owl sometimes. He'll be wide wake during the night sometimes and that's why he sleeps all day."

Echizen scowled. "If he disturbs my sleep any time this week, we're kicking him out."

Choutaro sweat dropped. "O-Oi Echizen-kun!" Echizen started to walk away without him. "Help me! I can't carry him and his bags!"

"He's your sempai."

"Mattaku! Jirou-sempai, okiru! We need to get to the cabin! You can sleep there!"

"Mmnph… five more minutes…" Jirou mumbled

"No, now!" Choutaro lifted his arms and placed them around his shoulders. "At least keep a grip on your bags. Echizen-kun! Matte!"

* * *

**Awe. Poor Choutaro. He got stuck with Jirou and Echizen.**

**Hey guys. Sorry for the late update. I was studying for my finals. I passed! Finally, school is over with and now I'm free to write all day long… after summer school and before and after practice.**

**Anyways, how's it been? Hope that you've liked it so far! If you're wondering about the cabin pairings, when I wrote that they picked cabin buddies by picking papers out of a bag, I actually did that. I put papers with their names on them and picked them out at random except for Echizen's cabin. I thought that is was funny how Tezuka, Kaidou and Kabaji got placed together. Who's your favorite cabin? Also, when Inui said that he was older then Atobe, it was true. He was born in October while Inui was born in June. I don't know what year so, until I find out which, Inui is older.**

**I hope everyone has enjoyed it so far. Forgive stupid mistakes!**

**Bye~!**


	5. Issue

**Whazzup everyone? How ya' doin'? I hope everyone has been well. Sorry about updating being all weird. I'll try to get this chapter out by midnight and if not, I might wait another day before uploading. But don't worry! If I do, I promise that there will be awesomely-awesomeness!**

**I'm taking the ideas of the camp from what I did at my sixth grade camping trip :3 I hope everyone will like the things I have in store. Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing and special thanks to **_**PurpleScorpian**_** for giving me the basic summaries of the Hyoutei regulars! Love you guys!**

**Hope that everyone is enjoying the story so far. I really don't have any idea what I'm going to after this chapter, or for this chapter for that matter. **_**Stop stalling! Start writing! **_**Yeah, yeah whatever.**

**I swear, I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis but if I did, ohhh, all the things I'd make them do.**

**Chapter 5. Enjoy!**

* * *

Choutaro sweat dropped. "O-Oi Echizen-kun!" Echizen started to walk away without him. "Help me! I can't carry him and his bags!"

"He's your sempai."

"Mattaku! Jirou-sempai, okiru! We need to get to the cabin! You can sleep there!"

"Mmnph… five more minutes…" Jirou mumbled

"No, now!" Choutaro lifted his arms and placed them around his shoulders. "At least keep a grip on your bags. Echizen-kun! Matte!"

* * *

After about an hour or so, Atobe sent a message to everyone telling them what the schedule for the rest of the day was. Apparently, their day consisted of things like hiking, fishing and swimming. Even though Echizen liked camping and all of those fun things, they didn't seem as appealing when he did it with his teammates and rival school.

He enjoyed the fact that he shared a cabin with Choutaro and Jirou. Choutaro was the type of person who knew when to be serious at the correct times but he was also a kind-hearted person, much like Oishi. Jirou reminded Echizen of himself and Kikumaru. He and Kikumaru were happy most of the time while he and Echizen slept most of the day away.

Echizen was laying on his bed thinking about all the things that Atobe said that they would do and all the possible scenarios that could happen. Somehow, in all of them, he was humiliated one way or another by Momo, Fuji, Kikumaru or Ryoga.

"Echizen-kun, are you alright?" Choutaro had noticed a sour look on Echizen's face. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine." Echizen rolled over to the other side and faced his back to Choutaro.

"Mou, you remind me of Atobe-san."

Echizen flinched then sat up and almost knocked his head on the ceiling. "What?" he asked in an 'are you really going to say that?' tone. "I'm nothing like that Monkey king."

"I think others would say different." Choutaro paid no attention to Echizen's attitude but saw his scowl and decided to have some fun. "I mean, you're both very skilled at tennis, you speak English quiet well, became regulars your first year, not to mention arrogant, rude, cocky…"

Echizen's scowl turned into a total death glare.

"…think you're better than everyone else, you both need to work on your people skills and have a nickname." Choutaro caught Echizen's eye. If looks could kill. "But, then again, there are a lot of things in which you are total opposites so maybe you aren't similar at all." He looked at Echizen and smiled. Echizen shot daggers at him from his eyes.

"Mmnph… *yawn*… ohayou." Jirou woke up from his bed in a rather uncomfortable looking position.

"Jirou-sempai, ohayou." Choutaro said as he turned from Echizen's death glare.

"Why are you awake?" Echizen stopped his glaring at Choutaro.

Jirou looked around. "Where are we?" he asked completely ignoring Echizen's question.

"We're at camp Jirou-sempai. Don't you remember yesterday? You were really excited to come."

Jirou looked at him with sleepy eyes then a light bulb went off in his head. "Ah! We're at camp!" Jirou jumped up from his bed, fully awake now. "Yatta! I forgot that we were here!" his stomach growled.

'_I guess that's why he's up.' _Echizen thought.

"Yosh! Time to go get some food!" Jirou ran for the door and ran outside towards the front of the campsite with the cabin that held the food.

"Ah, Jirou-sempai!" Choutaro started after him. "Echizen-kun, I'm sorry. I need to catch him. Last time he almost ate everything we had for the whole week! Gomen!" he ran out the door after Jirou down the trail.

Echizen sighed. He got down from his bed and shut the door. He was glad that both of them were gone. He could finally fall asleep in peace, or so he thought. Before he could get back on his bunk, there was a knock on the door. Annoyed he climbed down the ladder and went to the door expecting Oishi or Taka coming to see how he and his bunkmates were doing.

He opened the door to see no one and nothing except for an envelope left on the first step. He took the envelope and opened it. His eyes grew greater as he read the single line on the paper.

"_Don't think that you've gotten rid of me that easily, Echizen Ryoma."_

* * *

"Why are they taking so long? Ore-sama does not like to be kept waiting." Apparently, with the message sent to everyone about what they were going to do, Atobe also sent a message that said that they should all meet and actually discuss how it was going to go.

"Be patient Atobe. I'm sure that they're coming right now." Oishi said.

"Saa, but with Echizen and Jirou, they are probably making it difficult." Fuji said with a smile.

"Fsshhh... they might have not even gotten the message." Kaidou hissed making a good point.

"Or they're just ignoring it." Momo said.

"They wouldn't do that. Even Echizen would give some sort of reply." Oshitari said.

"How could they ignore a command from the great Ore-sama?"

"Nya, if it's Ochibi that's most likely what happened." Kikumaru said.

"There they are." Ryoga said pointing towards Jirou and Choutaro coming down the path.

"It's about time. Ore-sama was beginning to get annoyed."

"Jirou-sempai, matte!" everyone could here Choutaro yelling for Jirou.

"I don't see Echizen with them." Hiyoshi said.

"Ah, what are you all doing here?" Jirou finally stopped.

"J-Jirou-sempai, please- don't run- off like that." Choutaro said trying to catch his breath.

"Do you know how long Ore-sama has been waiting?" Atobe stood in front of them and started tapping his foot impatiently.

"What are you talking about?" Jirou asked.

"Didn't you get a message saying that we're going to have a meeting about the activities we're going to do?" Gakuto smugly asked.

Choutaro and Jirou gave them confused looks and then checked their phones. "Ah-" they both had one unread message.

"I guess we didn't here with the things that were going on." Choutaro said.

"What things? And where's Echizen?" Inui asked while writing in his notebook.

"Ah! I left him in the cabin when I chased after Jirou-sempai." Choutaro sweat dropped.

"It can't be helped. Atobe-kun sent him a message, so either he didn't get it or he's ignoring us." Ryoga said as he took out his phone and dialed his brother's number.

"Can't we just leave him?" Shishido suggested. All of the Seigaku regulars gave him a look causing him to sweat drop.

"Chibisuke, come down to the main campsite. We're going to-" Ryoga stopped in midsentence as he heard his brother speak on the other line. "Ah. Ah. Alright." He hung up his phone and put it in his pocket. "He's being stubborn again. I'll go get him." He started off in the direction of his cabin but not before Momo and Kikumaru caught up with him.

Fuji and Tezuka gave each other a look that caught Atobe's eye.

"What is it? Is there something wrong with the gaki?"

"Saa, not exactly…" Fuji opened his eyes slightly as he began to tell the Hyoutei regulars about what happened at school a few days prior to coming to the camp.

* * *

"Ne Eiji-sempai, do you think something's wrong?"

"Nya, I hope not."

Kikumaru and Momo were walking up the trail to Echizen's cabin with Ryoga. Well, more like they were following Ryoga. He was walking at a much faster pace like he was worried.

"Ryoga-san." Ryoga stopped and looked behind him to see Kikumaru and Momo with confused and worried expressions. "Is something the matter with Ochibi?"

He looked at them with an apologetic smile and sighed. "Let's hope not."

The rest of the walk to the cabin was silent. Momo and Kikumaru kept looking at Ryoga and giving each other worries looks. When they arrived, the cabin gave off a sort of dark ora that made them feel uncomfortable. They knocked but there was no answer.

"Chibisuke?" Ryoga slowly opened the door to see Echizen sitting on his bed with his back on the wall. "Chibisuke, come on. You're making everyone wait."

"Oi Echizen." Momo climbed the ladder to meet Echizen's eyes. He saw fear reflected in them. "Echizen, are you alright?"

"Ochibi, what's wrong?" Kikumaru was hanging on the side. "What's this?" he saw a letter by his side. He took it and went back down to Ryoga and Momo followed.

"What's it say Eiji-sempai?"

"_Don't think that you've gotten rid of me that easily, Echizen Ryoma."_

Ryoga frowned. He took the letter from Kikumaru's hands and read it again. "That bastard."

"What are you talking about Ryoga-san?" Kikumaru asked.

He didn't answer but hopped up onto Echizen's bed and started talking to him in a low tone.

"I think that it's the same person who gave him the tennis ball from before Eiji-sempai." Momo said with disconcert.

"Eh? How did he get up here?"

"He probably followed us. Kuso!" Momo clenched his fist in anger.

"Nya, if that's the case, we need to tell everyone to watch out for someone! There's no way I'm letting him get to Ochibi!" Ryoga and Echizen climbed off the bed. "Don't worry Ochibi! We'll protect you!" Kikumaru said as he embraced him with a great hug.

"Ah! Echizen, we'll be with you the whole time we're here!"

"You can't." Echizen seemed to return to his normal, cocky self as he pushed Kikumaru off him. "This isn't your cabin."

"Echizen, you can't expect us to know that that weirdo is here and we're going to leave you alone!"

"I won't be alone. Choutaro-sempai and Jirou-sempai will be with me."

"Ochibi! Don't be stubborn! We're not leaving you!" Kikumaru hugged him tighter.

"It's no use. Once he sets him mind on something, you can't change it." Ryoga said with a 'it's no use' look on his face. "Well just tell everyone to keep an eye out."

"There's no need for that. I can handle it." Echizen finally got away from Kikumaru and headed for the door. "There's no need for everyone else to be involved with my business."

"Chibisuke, this is one time where it doesn't matter if you can handle it yourself and whether you like it or not, we're getting involved." Ryoga's tone was more forceful than it normally was.

Echizen turned back to face them. "Che. Then do what you want." He opened the door and went out.

Ryoga sighed. "There's just no pleasing him."

"Echizen wait!" Momo ran after him.

"Ochibi matte!" Kikumaru followed.

Ryoga smiled. "At least he has friends that worry about him." He closed the cabin door and caught up with them.

* * *

"Are you saying that Echizen is being targeted by someone?" Shishido asked.

"All logic points to that." Inui said as he flipped thought a few pages of his notebook.

"We've done what we can to try and see who's behind it but so far we have nothing." Oishi said.

Everyone was silent for a moment, deep in thought.

"Whoever this person is, there is no way that he can get into Ore-sama's camp." Atobe broke the silence. "As of right now, the gaki should be safe here."

Everyone looked a little surprised. Atobe was actually thinking of someone other than himself but they were glad. He was right. No one really knew their way around up there except for the Hyoutei regulars. There was no way that any could find Echizen while he was there.

"Oi Echizen, Ryoga-san matte!" everyone turned to see Momo and Kikumaru chasing after Echizen and Ryoga. "Help us!"

"Yadda! It's your own fault!" Echizen shouted as he started to run faster.

"Ryoga-san, it's itchy!" Kikumaru shouted.

"Please keep your distance Kikumaru-kun!" Ryoga shouted back.

"Oi, what's going on?" Oishi asked as Ryoga and Echizen ran past them.

"Don't let them touch you!" Ryoga yelled.

"Echizen-kun, what's wrong?" Choutaro asked as Echizen ran behind a tree.

"Those two bakas walked through poison ivy." Echizen said as he caught his breath.

"Fsshhh, baka! Don't bring them over here!" Kaidou hissed.

Everyone looked at the two running towards them. Not wanting to be touched, they did as Echizen did and hid behind trees. Tezuka rubbed his temples in displeasure. Pretty soon, Kikumaru and Momo were chasing everyone around complaining about how itchy they were. Several veins popped on both Atobe's and Tezuka's foreheads.

"Kabaji." Atobe was very annoyed.

"Usu." Kabaji proceeded to grab the back of Momo's and Kikumaru's shirts and held them in the air so their feet weren't touching the ground.

"Waa! Oishi, make the itching stop!"

"I think I might scratch my skin off!"

"Calm down you two!" Oishi went up to them but stepped back when they tried to touch him. "Ah, Atobe-san, is there-"

"Kabaji."

"Usu." Kabaji started walking towards the food cabin.

"There is a first aid kit in there. It should have calamine lotion in it."

"Arigatou." Oishi, Taka and Inui ran off after Kabaji. Taka went because they might need to be held back from scratching and Inui figured he could get some data from it.

"Ore-sama feels pity for you having to deal with them." Atobe said to Tezuka. Tezuka gave him an annoyed sigh.

"Saa, it makes everything so much more fun." Fuji smiled.

"Tezuka-kun, we have an issue." Tezuka, Atobe and Fuji turned to see Ryoga behind them.

"What is it Ryoga-san?"

Ryoga looked over his shoulder to Echizen who was lying on a table trying to sleep while surrounded by the Hyoutei regulars being hounded by questions about the attack in the club room. Echizen glanced at Fuji and glared. Fuji merely gave him a smile in return. Ryoga took the letter out of his pocket and handed it to him. Tezuka's and Atobe's eyes narrowed while Fuji's opened.

"Where did you get this?" he asked at Atobe took the letter from his hand.

"It was with Chibisuke when we went to go get him."

"Do you mean that he had it when we came up?" Fuji asked.

"No. He said that there was a knock on the cabin door after Choutaro-kun left to chase after Jirou-kun. He assumed it was someone from here but he opened it and found this."

"Are you saying that the person who planted the bomb in his locker has infiltrated Ore-sama's camp?" Atobe asked.

"Ah." He turned to Tezuka. "Tezuka-kun, we need to be careful. That person already knows where Chibisuke is staying and we've only been here for a few hours."

"Ah. If this person was able to follow us and locate Echizen in such a small amount of time, he must have spent a considerable amount of time in a forest." Tezuka said as he crossed his arms.

"Saa, what do you think we should do?" Fuji said.

"He should be safe if he has someone with him all the time. Choutaro and Jirou should be able to handle it." Atobe said.

"Saa, we should all be cautious. We don't know what will happen now." Fuji turned to look at Echizen. "He shouldn't be alone. Even if Choutaro and Jirou are with him, I still think that we should take turns with him."

"I don't think that doing that will work." Ryoga said. "We already talked to Chibisuke about it and he said that he didn't want anyone involved. Plus, if we all took turns staying with him, the person might get wise to what we're doing and try something drastic."

"Ryoga-san has a point. The best way to protect him may be to act like nothing happened at all." Tezuka said

Everyone, despite not liking that idea, decided that it was the best way to keep him safe. They all turned when they suddenly heard laughing. They saw Echizen laughing and smiling with all the other as they saw Momo and Kikumaru walking towards them with their faces, arms and legs covered in pink spots. Kabaji, Oishi, Inui and Taka were following behind them.

When Echizen started commenting about how funny Momo looks and how the spots were an improvement, Momo ran at him and put him in a head lock. Oishi immediately ran to his aide and everyone was smiling and laughing. Tezuka, Fuji, Ryoga and Atobe all had small smiles cross over their faces.

"I think we should joy the peace while it lasts." Ryoga said.

"Saa, we might not know when we have this chance next." Fuji agreed.

"Ore-sama would hardly call this peace." Atobe said.

Tezuka smirked. "Minna, yudan sezu ni ikou."

The four older boys joined everyone in the happiness. Who knew when it would be over and things would possibly get dangerous?

Little did everyone know, as they were enjoying the moment of joy and cheerfulness, there was a figure watching all of them from a tree.

"Echizen Ryoma, you're mine."

* * *

**How about that? **_**What the hell? Stupid figure! Stay away from my Ryoma!**_** Yeah, I feel that way too.**

**Did you like it? Leave it to Kikumaru and Momo to walk through poison ivy. I've walked through it, not fun at all. Itches like a beotch.**

**Sorry for the late update. I'll try to get back to the normal schedule tomorrow. Things have been a little hectic in the house right now. It should all be back to normal tomorrow :p**

**Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, favoriting and correcting me with how all the character are. Love you guys! You give me the strength to go on!**

**Please forgive stupid mistakes!**

**That's all for now. See ya tomorrow!**


	6. First Encounter

**AwwwwYeeeeaaah! What's up peoples? Totally going to pull an all-nighter switching out between typing this and making origami cranes. Hahaha I have lots of energy right now so sorry if things in this chapter are a little weird and stupid and I repeat things :p**

**How's it been? Hope everyone enjoyed the boringness of this story so far. Don't worry. Things **_**will**_** happen in this chapter. Just had a light bulb go off in my head and got some good ideas of what to do. Quick heads up, I'm going to use references from the episode where they went to a training camp in the mountains and the old coach shows up. Keep that episode in mind when you read this chapter :3**

**I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis… that was a really boring way of saying it.**

**Chapter 6. Have fun!**

* * *

"Ore-sama would hardly call this peace." Atobe said.

Tezuka smirked. "Minna, yudan sezu ni ikou."

The four older boys joined everyone in the happiness. Who knew when it would be over and things would possibly get dangerous?

Little did everyone know, as they were enjoying the moment of joy and cheerfulness, there was a figure watching all of them from a tree.

"Echizen Ryoma, you're mine."

* * *

Everyone sort of forgot about the note that was left for Echizen. They all still kept a look out for anyone or anything suspicious but for the most part, everything was peaceful. They would notice that once or twice a day, a fish that they had caught would go missing. Everyone blamed Momo but kept the thought in the back of their heads that it could have been the uninvited guest that they had wondering around.

The days went smoothly. The week was nearly over. Every day, everyone met at the base of the camp and went on a hike then came back and had something to eat. They then relaxed for a bit then went to the river and went swimming and fished for their dinner. Seeing that they didn't have fishing poles, they were constructed out of a stick, some string and wire. The job of fishing was switched off each day and this time, Echizen, Shishido and Oshitari had to fish while everyone else messing around in the river.

"Shishido-sempai, Oshitari-sempai, wouldn't it be easier to use the fishing poles?" Echizen asked.

"Trust me Echizen. This way is simpler." Oshitari replied.

"Then why don't you do it by yourself?" Shishido complained.

"It works better if more people do it."

Echizen and Shishido were at one part of the river while Oshitari was at another.

"Yosh, ready?" Oshitari asked. Shishido and Echizen gave annoyed grunts. "Go!"

Shishido and Echizen started slashing and scaring the fish upstream while Oshitari tried to catch them. After many failed attempts, Echizen finally called it quits and went to get a fishing pole.

"Where are you going Echizen?" Shishido asked.

"You're scaring away the fish. I'm going further upstream." Echizen took one of the poles and walked up the stream.

"Echizen matte!" Oshitari shouted. Echizen ignored him and walked upstream until he was out of sight.

"Is it alright to let him wonder off by himself?" Shishido asked. "With the things that have been going on, shouldn't we go after him?"

"Ah." Oshitari looked at the sky. "It also looks like it is going to rain soon. You go after Echizen and I'll go tell everyone what happened."

"Hai." Shishido got out of the water and went in the direction Echizen headed while Oshitari went in search for the other regulars downstream.

* * *

Echizen walked upstream until he found a flat enough spot to go to sleep. He placed his pole in a small divot and surrounded it with rocks. If anyone came looking for him, they wouldn't be able to accuse him of slacking off. He cast the so called 'line' into the water then lay on a tree and looked up at the sky. It was growing dark despite it being the middle of the day and the wind was growing colder. Everywhere around him was silent. The only noise was an occasional rustle of leaves and pine needles in the trees and sound of the river rushing by. He could get use to this.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, there was a cold wind that knocked his hat from his face. He reached for it and when he did, he saw a figure across the river. He grabbed his hat and placed it on his head and stared at the figure. Echizen couldn't see his whole face. He could barely make out the color of his eyes which where an astounding shade of Byzantium. **(Would have just said purple but this sounded cooler) **He had a hood over his head which mostly covered his dark red hair and completely covered his mouth. Even though Echizen couldn't see it, he knew that the figure across from him was smiling.

"Who are you?" Echizen was both annoyed and frightened.

The figure was silent. A cold breeze blew causing Echizen to give a tiny shiver. He unconsciously knew that it was the person from before but couldn't put two and two together. He fixed his hat and placed his hands behind his head and leaned back up against the tree.

"Do you mind?" Echizen was starting to feel annoyed. He didn't like the fact of someone watching him while he was trying to sleep. He could tell that the nonvisible grin from the figure grew. He watched as the figure bowed and then walked back into the woods.

Echizen sighed. He could have been asleep. Just before he pulled his hat over his eyes, he noticed that the fishing pole was bent. He went to it and pulled. It seemed that doing nothing actually caused him some good. He had caught a rather large fish. He looked at it with an approving smirk and just as he was going to cast the line out again, he felt a water droplet. Many more seemed to follow. He looked at the sky to see that it had turned practically black and it had finally started to rain.

"Echizen!" Echizen turned his head to see Shishido running at him. "Echizen, please don't leave by yourself."

"Shishido-sempai, are we finished?"

"You actually fished? I expected to find you sleeping." Echizen gave a disapproving grunt. "Anyway, with this rain, I doubt that we will be able to do much more. Let's get back to everyone and see what they have to say about it."

"Ah." Echizen picked up the fish and the pole and started back with Shishido. He stopped to look behind him at where the figure was standing. He was more than a little worried.

"Hayaku Echizen. It looks like a storm is about to start." Shishido called to him.

"Hai." Echizen gave one final glance at the spot where the figure was standing then hurried along to catch up with Shishido.

* * *

Echizen and Shishido returned to the others to see Oshitari being scolded by Atobe about not catching any fish for dinner.

"…Ore-sama. What do you expect to feed Ore-sama? And you made Ore-sama wait even longer and now he is soaking wet." Atobe was complaining about him being soaked from the rain even though the was in the water with everyone else.

"Ooo-i!" Shishido and Echizen came running at them.

"Shishido-san, Echizen!"

"Did you get anything?" Atobe asked. Echizen held up the fish he had caught. "Excellent. At least Ore-sama will be able to eat."

"That's not fair Atobe-san." Oishi said. "Echizen was the one to catch the fish so I think that it's only fair that he gets to eat it."

"This is Ore-sama's camp so Ore-sama gets first pick for everything."

Oishi and Atobe started bickering about what should happen with the fish.

"Ne." Echizen interrupted them. "I don't care what you do. Can we just get out of the rain?"

Everyone looked at him then themselves. They hadn't noticed how soaked they'd actually become. There was a flash of lightning followed by a boom of thunder that made everyone jump. They all agreed that getting back to the camp was a good idea.

The journey back to the camp was very different than the journey to the river. The ground that was dry and firm was now wet and muddy. Everyone had to stop a few times to help their comrades who had fallen in the mud. Such people included: Oshitari, Kikumaru, Echizen and Gakuto. Everyone thought that it was ironic that the two acrobatic players were the ones to fall. The four boys were covered in mud. Upon arriving at the camp, against Atobe's wishes, everyone decided that that they should bathe first. They went to their cabins, grabbed their bags with a change of clothes and went to the bath.

* * *

"Yaa, this feels nice." Kikumaru was soaking in a tub.

"I don't remember the last time I bathed like this." Gakuto said as he scrubbed his back.

"Didn't you do it yesterday?" Oshitari pointed out.

"It's not the same. We were in here first this time and we can take extra-long since we were all muddy."

"You just don't want to go outside because it's cold and raining, nya."

"Heh. That too."

"Ochibi, are you done already?" Kikumaru noticed that Echizen had gotten out of the bath and headed towards the door and into the changing room.

"I would prefer to bathe myself in peace." He tied a towel around his waist and went through the door.

"Che, what's his problem?" Gakuto asked immaturely.

"He's probably riled up about what's been happening." Oshitari said. "I'd be annoyed too if I had someone constantly having to look after me."

"Not to mention he's probably scared too." Kikumaru said. "He tries to act like an adult about everything but he's still just a baby." The three sat in silence for a few seconds. "Yosh! We need to find a way to cheer Ochibi up!" Kikumaru raised his fist in the air with much enthusiasm.

"A-Ah." Oshitari and Gakuto did the same but didn't seem too passionate about it. They all arose out of the bath and tied towels around their waists. Just as they were about to enter the changing room, they heard a loud thud. They looked at each other with misperception. Gakuto opened the door and the three were horror struck. Echizen was lying on the floor with a small stream of blood coming out of his mouth and down from his forehead.

"Ochibi!" Kikumaru quickly rushed to his side and pulled him into his lap, flinching at the small puddle of blood that had started to form under his head. "Ochibi, open your eyes!"

"Oi, what the hell happened?" Gakuto was flustered.

"Kikumaru, please hand him to me." Oshitari knelt down beside him. Reluctantly, Kikumaru handed Echizen to Oshitari. He traced the flow of blood to a small knick just above his eye. "It looks like he hit it when he fell."

"Nya, but is he alright? Why would he fall unconscious?"

"Ne, take a look at this." Gakuto walked over to Echizen's bag and picked up a smaller plastic bag on top of it. He handed it to Oshitari. He looked at it with displeasure.

"Kikumaru, go get the others." Oshitari placed the bag down. "They should all be in Atobe's cabin seeing that it's the biggest."

Kikumaru nodded, changed into his spare clothes and ran out the door.

* * *

"I wish this rain would stop. It's making me totally depressed." Momo was staring out the window. "What happened to the sun?"

"I didn't hear anything about rain this week before we left." Choutaro said.

"The weather reports are usually 67% wrong." Inui said.

"Why bother listening to it if it will just lie to you?" Kaidou said.

"Saa, it's not wrong all the time." Fuji said in the weather man's defense.

"Ore-sama does not want to be kept waiting. How long will they take?" Atobe was annoyed that everyone was crammed into his cabin and that he wasn't the first one to take a bath.

"Maa maa, they fell in the mud. Give them some time." Oishi said.

"Saa, why don't we play a game to pass the time?"

"What kind of game Fuji-sempai?" Hiyoshi asked.

"It's called the Seigaku Game. It goes like this." Fuji proceeded to tell everyone how to play the game and gave them an example.

"That seems confusing." Shishido said.

"You'll get used to it." Momo said.

Inui's glasses gleamed. "The losers will have to drink my new juice." Everyone deadpanned. Inui pulled out a bottle form his bag. "Special Addition Ultra Deluxe Golden Remix Inui juice."

Everyone looked at the so called 'drink' in front of them. Even Jirou was awake from hearing about it and subconsciously feared that he would have to drink if he slept through the game.

"Yadda! I don't want to play it in fear!" Taka said.

"If you don't play, you have to drink the bottle. If you lose, you drink a cap full."

Everyone except Ryoga and Tezuka quickly formed a circle out of fear.

"Ara? You're not playing?" Momo asked Tezuka and Ryoga. Tezuka merely gave a stoic look that seemed to say 'if you make me play, you'll run laps 'til your feet fall off.' Ryoga, on the other hand, just kept staring out the window. It seemed that he didn't even here Momo ask. "Ryoga-san?"

"Hm? Ah, gomen. I'm not in the mood right now." he said with an sorry smile.

"Ryoga-san…"

"Saa, everybody ready? Go!" Fuji quickly changed the subject.

While everyone was playing, Tezuka went over to Ryoga.

"What is it Ryoga-san?" Tezuka joined him.

"Something's wrong." He stared out the window. "Chibisuke wouldn't have tripped like that even if the ground was muddy."

"What do you mean?"

"He was acting different. He kept looking behind him as if someone was about to grab him." Ryoga's eyes had worry reflected in them.

Tezuka put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. We-"

"Minna!" Kikumaru burst through the door, sopping wet from the storm.

"Eiji! What's the matter?" Oishi rose from his seated position.

Kikumaru slumped to the ground trying to catch his breath. "Minna… hayaku… Ochibi…"

Everyone's eyes widened. Ryoga got up from his seat and ran out the door towards the bath.

"Ryoga-san!" he could here he shouts of the younger boys not too far behind him yelling for him to wait and slow down.

'_Chibisuke, please be alright!' _he thought at he ran down the muddy trail to the bath house. He slid the door open to see Oshitari and Gakuto on either side of Echizen, bandaging his wound and trying to get him to wake up. He walked in and slumped to the ground beside them.

* * *

**Annnnnd let's stop it right there. I know, cliff hanger again. I would have kept going with this chapter but it's already 2am and I'm trying to keep a steady update cycle for you guys. You also get one plus chapter added to the story :3**

**Did you like it? Don't worry. Ryoma isn't dead…yet… naw, just kidding. I hate death fics. I won't do that to you guys. I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**Okay so, the part about the Seigaku Game is actually a part of something else but I borrowed the idea from **_**Namikaze Naruto Tenma no ouji**_** and their story. Everyone should go and read it so they understand what I'm talking about. Search for **_**Seigaku Game **_**and read. It's really funny. Sorry about not going into detail about it :/**

**Reviews feed the soul… and the writers writing the stories. Review to keep me alive!**

**Forgive stupid mistakes!**

**See ya later!**


	7. Symtoms

**Goal for today, do not stay up until 2am writing the story and get it done waaaaay sooner. I don't like not updating at midnight. It throws me off.**

**Enough of my complaining. What's up guys? I missed you… that sounded creeper status… I think I might be able to get at least one more chapter after this one or just make this chapter uber long. Who knows. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.**

**Okay, again I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis or a million dollars. I do own four cats though.**

**Coming to a close. Chapter 7. Enjoy!**

* * *

Kikumaru slumped to the ground trying to catch his breath. "Minna… hayaku… Ochibi…"

Everyone's eyes widened. Ryoga got up from his seat and ran out the door towards the bath.

"Ryoga-san!" he could here he shouts of the younger boys not too far behind him yelling for him to wait and slow down.

'_Chibisuke, please be alright!' _he thought at he ran down the muddy trail to the bath house. He slid the door open to see Oshitari and Gakuto on either side of Echizen, bandaging his wound and trying to get him to wake up. He walked in and slumped to the ground beside them.

* * *

"Ryoga-san." Gakuto and Oshitari were fully dressed.

"What happened?" Ryoga was more demanding an explanation than asking for it.

"Uno… we don't know…" Gakuto was hesitant.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"It's true Ryoga-san." Oshitari could tell Ryoga was getting angry. "We were in the bath then he got out to change. We followed him after about a minute and we came in to find him on the ground."

"We found this on his bag." Gakuto handed him the plastic bag.

"Ryoga-san!" everyone else rushed into the room.

"Echizen!" Oishi ran to his side.

"You found this on his bag?" Ryoga asked Oshitari.

"Ah. He did." He gestured to Gakuto.

"Oi, what happened?" Momo pushed his way to the front and sat down next to Echizen.

Gakuto, Oshitari and Kikumaru began telling everyone what had happened since they came to the bath. Ryoga left his brother's side with the small bag and went towards the door. He looked at the residue left inside of it.

"Ryoga-san." Fuji and Tezuka were with him.

Ryoga held the bag to his nose and sniffed it.

"What is it Ryoga-san?"

Ryoga stuck his finger into the bag and collected some of the residue then put it in his mouth. His mouth immediately felt like it was on fire. His throat became enflamed and his mouth dry. He felt weak. He leaned into the doorway and slumped to the floor and started coughing.

"Ryoga-san!" Fuji knelt beside him. "What's wrong?"

"We need to get him somewhere warm." Ryoga said as he caught his breath. "And we need to find out how much of this his he inhaled." He handed Tezuka the bag.

"What is this?" Tezuka looked at it questionably.

"I'm not sure but if a little bit from did this to me, imagine what a bagful would do to him."

The three boys looked at Echizen lying on the floor. He looked so lifeless yet so peaceful. Whoever did this wasn't going to leave Atobe's camp uninjured.

"Inui." Tezuka called him over.

"Hm?" he walked over, notebook in hand. "Nani?" he turned to the slumped Ryoga. "Ryoga-san, what's wrong?"

"Inui, we need you at analyze this." Tezuka handed him the bag. "Apparently, it was left by the culprit and a small bit can do that." He gestured to Ryoga. "There's no telling how much of this Echizen inhaled or what it is for that matter."

"Wakatta." He placed the bag behind the front cover of his note book. "Ryoga-san, please tell me all of your symptoms when we get back to the cabins."

"Hai."

"Tezuka, Echizen has a fever and it's not going to get any better if we stay out here." Oishi shouted to him.

"We'll go back to the cabin. The gaki's is the closest." Atobe said joining Tezuka. "Kabaji."

"Usu." Kabaji carefully lifted Echizen and held him bridle style.

"Let's go." Atobe started out the door.

"Matte." Everyone turned around.

"What?" Atobe crossed his arms.

At that moment, Kaidou and Shishido took off their regular jackets and draped them over Echizen.

"Awe, Mamoshi is so caring!" Momo teased as he placed his arm around Kaidou.

"Nya, Shishido-san too." Kikumaru added.

"Urasi." Kaidou and Shishido both blushed.

"Can we go now?" Atobe asked impatiently.

"Ah." Everyone said in unison.

"Ryoga-san, can you stand?" Fuji offered his hand.

"Ah." Ryoga grabbed it and hoisted himself up. He stumbled a bit but Fuji was there to catch him.

"Are you alright?"

"Ah. Arigatou Fuji-kun." Ryoga looked at him and rubbed his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"That stuff is making me see multiple." He rubbed his eyes again.

"Saa, let's just get to the cabin."

Fuji pulled Ryoga's arm around his shoulder and they went alone with the others to Echizen's cabin.

* * *

The storm seemed to have gotten worse. It was completely pouring, no one could see seven feet in front of them, the ground was slick from the mud and there was a flash of lightning and boom of thunder every few seconds. Echizen wasn't doing to good either.

They all got to his cabin and laid him down on the bottom bunk of his bed and wrapped him in what seemed to be like a couple dozen blankets. His temperature kept getting worse. It wasn't going down and his breathing sped up. Oishi was scared to think about what would happen if he stayed like that.

"Ryoga-san, can you tell me about the substance and what you're experiencing right now?" Inui asked as he sat next to Ryoga on a bed with his notebook open to a fresh page.

"Ah, well, as you could tell, it didn't smell like anything. It didn't have any taste either." He said as he placed his hand on his head. "It just started burning. The inside of my mouth became extremely dry, my throat became enflamed, it hurts a little bit to breathe and talk, I've had on and off double vision and I feel a bit dizzy."

"Is there anything else?" Inui asked as he jotted down everything he said.

"I feel really tired." He placed both hands on his head. "My eyelids feel really heavy and I feel like I could pass out."

"Arigatou Ryoga-san." Inui finished scribbling in his notebook then got up and went to Oshitari. He told him something then Oshitari announced that they would be in his cabin if they were needed.

"I hope that they can find out what that stuff was." Taka said.

"I just hope that Echizen-kun will wake up." Choutaro said as Oishi dabbed Echizen's head with a cloth.

"Mou, Ochibi's a fighter. He'd never let anything stop him!" Kikumaru said with a pout.

"But we don't even know what that stuff is."` Hiyoshi said.

"It could be a poison for all we know." Gakuto said.

"Oi, don't say things like that." Kaidou hissed.

"You could jinx him." Momo added.

"There's no such things as jinxes." Jirou said.

While everyone was bickering about things that were real and fake, Tezuka and Atobe went and sat on either side of Ryoga.

"How do you feel?" Tezuka asked.

"I've been better Tezuka-kun." Ryoga answered as he took his hands from his face.

"You look pale." Atobe put his hand on Ryoga's forehead. "You have a slight fever."

Ryoga pushed his hand away and fell back. "I don't matter. We need to find a way to help Chibisuke."

"You're just as important as he is." Tezuka said.

"But no one is as important as Ore-sama." Tezuka shot Atobe a glare. Atobe cleared his throat. "Anyway, what are we going to do about that person?"

"We should go after him!" Momo said as he heard what Atobe said.

"Fsshhh, agreed." Kaidou hissed.

"I don't like the idea of some weirdo wondering around the camp. We need to get rid of him." Shishido said.

"Yosh! Let's go get him!" Kikumaru shouted.

"I don't see what we can do about it. It seems that he knows the woods well. We wouldn't know where to start." Hiyoshi pointed out.

"Maa, don't say that. We can-" Taka was interrupted.

"Kore, Taka-san." Fuji pulled a racquet out of nowhere.

"DORIA! LET'S GO GET THAT GUY RIGHT NOW BABY!" Taka was in full burning mode.

"Ah!" everyone except Tezuka, Atobe, Fuji and Ryoga raised their fists in agreement. Taka was leading the precession toward the door when Tezuka grabbed the racquet from Taka's hands.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked with a stoic stare.

"Uno, we were heading out to go find the culprit…" Taka said.

"You can't do anything in this storm." Atobe said as he got up from the bed and opened the door. Everyone sweat dropped when they saw how much it was raining and how hard the wind was blowing.

"Nya, but that person is out there somewhere and he probably planning something!" Kikumaru protested.

"I know how you feel Kikumaru-kun" Ryoga said as he sat up on the bed. "but it would be useless to go out right now. The best thing to do would be to wait until morning and see if the storm has died down a little then go out and look for any signs of him."

"Demo…" he looked over to Echizen.

"No one wants retribution more than I do but it's not safe. He knows these woods fairly well, even in the rain. We need to wait." Everyone gave a low submissive grown. "It's already late. We should all get back to our cabins and get some rest."

"Hai." Everyone said in an disappointed tone. They gathered the things that they brought and headed towards the door. Tezuka noticed a smile on Kikumaru's face.

"Kikumaru, if you venture out tonight, you will become Inui's personal taste tester."

Kikumaru deadpanned. Momo and Gakuto let out snickers. "H-Hai." Everyone ran out the door and towards their cabins with their roommates.

Soon, the only ones left in the cabin were Choutaro, Jirou, Ryoga, Tezuka, Fuji, Echizen, Kabaji and Atobe.

"Ore-sama will see you all in the morning. Kabaji."

"Usu." Atobe walked out the door with Kabaji holding his jacket over Atobe's head as trying to stop the rain from hitting him.

"Saa, shall we go?" Fuji asked.

"Ah. Are you coming with us Ryoga-san?" Tezuka asked.

"I'd like to stay with Chibisuke for a little while longer." Ryoga gave them a frail smile as he made his way from his bed to his brother's.

"Saa, don't hesitate to come by if you need anything." Fuji said as he and Tezuka went to the door and ran outside in the direction of their cabins.

"Chibisuke." Ryoga went and hovered over his brother. Choutaro replaced Oishi and was dabbing his head with a wet cloth. Ryoga watched Echizen. He looked so peaceful. It was like he didn't care about anything and just slept his worries away. He was worried. He wanted him to wake up and tell everyone that he was alright and it was nothing to be concerned about. He watched his brother in his peaceful sleep. He sort of envied him.

"Ryoga-san." Choutaro was concerned.

Ryoga gave Choutaro a small smile. "Gomen. I'll take my leave," he walked over to the door but before he had a chance to do anything, he felt weak. He swayed for a moment then began to fall back. He could hear his name being called by Choutaro but didn't have the strength to do anything. He thought that he was going to hit the cold, hard ground but instead felt hands catch him.

"You can trouble us with your company for the night." He looked above to see Jirou looking back at him and gave him a smile.

"Gomen."

* * *

**Shortest chapter. Oh well. Next chapter will be super long since it is the last. I know! Sad day! Last chapter AND it won't be out at the normal time! **_**We hate you.**_** Naw, you love me, I know it.**

**Well, I guess I accomplished my goal of not staying up until 2am writing. Yay for me! Did you guys enjoy it? I wrote this chapter then reread it and thought that the stuff in the bag was sort of like a drug… I totally didn't intend for it to be like that. Eh, it works for the story.**

**A story's just not the same if Taka-san doesn't go burning at least once.  
**

**Forgive stupid mistakes!**

**One more chapter left. Have fun waiting! Bye! **


	8. Dream or Reality

**Not gonna lie, I was being really lazy and didn't start typing this until 10:16pm last Monday night. Sorry for late update but I always take longer when it's the end of the story because I'm actually spending time on it and making it awesome.**

**Hey guys! What's up? Hope you liked the story all the way until the end. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the chapters and gave me helpful information! Love all of you!**

**For all of you that were wondering, don't worry. I do not like death flicks and that means that I will not kill off any characters.**

**Last time until I start a new story, I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.**

**Second to final chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Ryoga-san." Choutaro was concerned.

Ryoga gave Choutaro a small smile. "Gomen. I'll take my leave," he walked over to the door but before he had a chance to do anything, he felt weak. He swayed for a moment then began to fall back. He could hear his name being called by Choutaro but didn't have the strength to do anything. He thought that he was going to hit the cold, hard ground but instead felt hands catch him.

"You can trouble us with your company for the night." He looked above to see Jirou looking back at him and gave him a smile.

"Gomen."

* * *

Jirou and Choutaro took the liberty of making up a bed for Ryoga and calling Kikumaru so he wouldn't be worried. The day that followed wasn't much better than the previous. The wind and rain had let up slightly but still, no one could see more than two feet in front of them.

When each cabin awoke, they went to see how Echizen was doing. Unfortunately, there had been no change. He hadn't moved, let alone said anything since the previous day. Ryoga was feeling much better though. His fever was gone, he no longer had double vision and it no longer hurt to breath but he still felt a bit dizzy.

Group by group, everyone came to see them. Oshitari had bags under his eyes and everyone assumed that Inui did too. They stayed up all night trying to figure out what was in that bag that was on Echizen's things. They had deduced that it was made up of two or more types of plants native to that part of the mountain that cause hallucinations, fevers, dizziness, sore mouth, throat, eyes and other various things. They figured that they would go looking for the plants when the storm cleared up. Hopefully, for Echizen's sake, it would be soon.

Two days went by and the camping trip was just about over. The storm finally seemed to be calming down a bit. Echizen hadn't moved, Ryoga either. He refused to leave his brother's side until he showed signs of getting better or even life for that matter. Everyone took turns bring him food and asking if he wanted a break. He barely touched the food and declined the breaks, wanting to stay by Echizen's side. Oishi and Choutaro were getting more worried by the minute.

"Ryoga-san, you really ought to take a break." Oishi said.

"Everyone is worried about you." Choutaro added.

Ryoga looked at Echizen then the two worried boys in front of him. "Iya, I don't feel like he's safe."

"Demo, this isn't good for your health." Oishi turned mother hen.

Ryoga turned away from them and looked back at Echizen. "Until the bastard who did this is found, I'm not leaving him"

Choutaro and Oishi gave each other nervous looks.

"Ah well, we're all going out to look for the plants that were used to make the substance in the bag. Kaidou, Hiyoshi and Gakuto will be in their cabins if you need anything." Choutaro said.

"Arigatou you two. And to everyone for caring about him so much." Ryoga gave them a smile.

"Of course. He's our teammate and friend. To most of us, he's also a little brother. We know how you feel Ryoga-san." Oishi returned the smile. With that, Oishi and Choutaro left and joined everyone else in the search of the cause and cure for Echizen's sickness.

Ryoga was left alone in the cabin once again. It was quiet. He rewet the cloth on Echizen's forehead. He wished his brother would wake up.

"Chibisuke, please wake up soon. "

* * *

**Inside Echizen's Head. Echizen POV. All of the talking will be in quotes otherwise Echizen is narrating.**

Mattaku. Stupid alarm clock. I hate that imprudent thing. Every single morning, it's the same stupid beeping. I don't know why Buchou needs to make practice so early. But, I guess it's not totally his fault. If school started later, that would be fine.

It's the same boring routine every morning. I got woken up by my annoying alarm and/or Karupin then got changed and went downstairs to find either Kaa-san or Nanako making breakfast. I ate it while my baka Oyaji pestered me about if I'm going on a date or not. I still can't believe that he really thinks that I would get up that early for a girl.

Halfway thought my less than appetizing American breakfast, Momo-sempai started calling for me, shouting that Buchou would make us run if we were late again. Hastily, I grabbed my things and met Momo-sempai outside.

"Echizen, you're the reason that we're always late!" he yelled as he peddled down the street.

"Why is it my fault? You're never at my house on time." I yelled back.

"Don't try to push the blame to me!" he retorted at we neared the school. "If we have to run, you're treating the next time we go to The Burger Joint."

"Che." I hopped off of his bike and went towards the tennis courts. I could hear the sounds of the balls hitting the ground, the racquets and the nets. It was all bliss until Momo-sempai ruined it by shouting at me to wait.

* * *

"Echizen, Momoshiro, 20 laps." Buchou shouted a command at us and we hadn't even stepped on the courts yet. We weren't even that late this time, only about twenty minutes. Sometimes, I think he does it just to make us suffer. We went to the club room to start changing when I felt a sudden pain in my hand and gasped in agony.

"What's wrong Echizen?" Momo-sempai looked at me as I clutched my hand. I slowly took my hand away from the other to reveal that the throbbing one was painted red with blood. "What the hell? How did that happen?"

I looked just as confused as he did. How did it happen? I didn't injure it in any way, shape or form but there were lots of deep cuts on it for some reason. Momo-sempai got a towel and pressed it to my hand to try and stop the bleeding. We both couldn't believe what had just happened. The bleeding wouldn't stop.

"Echizen, we need to go to the nurse." Momo-sempai said as he pressed the towel to my hand.

I flinched. I thought about denying it but I saw that the towel was soaked with blood. Before we could leave, we heard Kikumaru-sempai shouting at us in a sing-songy voice.

"O-chi-bi! Mo-mo! If you two don't hurry, Tezuka will make you run double!" he came in the door with a big smile on his face. "Ochibi, Momo, what's taking you-" he stopped his playful singing when he saw the blood drenched towel around my hand. "What happened?" he ran to me and looked at the towel in horror and disbelief. Momo-sempai carefully removed the towel from my hand to show Kikumaru-sempai all the gashes that had mysteriously appeared.

"Waa! Ochibi's injured!" Kikumaru-sempai ran out of the club room screaming that I was injured and bleeding to death. A few seconds later he came running back in with Oishi-sempai by his side and all the other regulars following after him.

"Echizen!" Oishi-sempai ran to my side and examined my hand. "Dear God Echizen, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything Oishi-sempai." I said with a cringe as he touched my hand.

"Don't lie to us Echizen." Kawamara-sempai said with a worried expression.

"Saa, this is very serious." It felt like Fuji-sempai's eyes were staring into my soul.

"Fsshhh, did you punch a window?" Kaidou-sempai knelt down to look at the wounds.

"That is highly illogical for Echizen to do. His arm muscles are 27% too weak for that." Inui-sempai said as he looked up from his notebook.

"This is no time for jokes Inui. Echizen, tell us what happened." Buchou's stoic look had a hint of concern in it.

"He's telling the truth. He really didn't do anything." Momo-sempai said in my defense. "Everything was fine until we came in here."

"What do you mean Momo?" Kikumaru-sempai asked.

"Uno... I don't really know how to explain it. One minute it was fine, the next it was all bloody." Everyone looked at Momo-sempai with confused faces. I could tell no one knew what he was talking about. I don't even think _he_ knew what he was talking about.

I sighed. "It was fine this morning, nothing was wrong. I don't know what happened." Everyone gave me their worried eyes. "I'll go to the nurse's office. I'll be fine."

"Momoshiro, go with him." Buchou said as Oishi-sempai got a fresh towel and pressed it to my hand.

"Hai." Momo-sempai got a towel and wiped my blood from his hands.

"Keep pressure on it until you get to the nurse." Oishi-sempai always did know what to do and say.

"Hai." I clenched the towel around my hand and Momo-sempai and I left for the nurse's office. As we left the room, I could feel everyone's concerned eyes watching me and wondering. I too was wondering what had happened. I wish that I could have given them an excuse not to be worried.

* * *

When we got to the nurse's office, we discovered that the nurse wasn't there and waited. Momo-sempai went rummaging through some of the cupboards and looked on the shelves to find something to stop my hand from bleeding.

"I can't believe there's nothing here. How can she treat you if there's nothing here to treat you with?" Momo-sempai asked as he looked on a shelf.

"You're looking in the wrong place Momo-sempai." I told him.

"How would you know?" he turned back to him. "You look pale Echizen. Go lay down. I'll keep looking for something."

Figuring that I could catch up on lost sleep, I went and laid down on a bed. My hand was throbbing. I couldn't believe that it was still bleeding. Were the cuts really that deep? How did I get them? Why did this happen? Dozens of questions were flowing into my head. I didn't understand any of it. I tightened my grip on my hand despite the pain. All I wanted were answers to my questions. I was tired and soon drifted off to sleep. The last thing I remember hearing was Momo-sempai complaining that he couldn't find anything.

_Wake up… you need to wake up…_

I opened my eyes to a bright light and the sound of a bell. I sat up in bed to see the nurse searching through a drawer. I caught a glimpse of the clock.

"It's the beginning of fourth period." I said to myself. I guess I had been asleep for a few hours. It didn't feel that long, only a few seconds. I heard a voice in those few seconds telling me that I should wake up. I guess my subconscious wanted me to be awake and woke me up.

"Echizen-kun. How are you feeling?" the nurse asked me. I looked at my hand. It didn't hurt as much as it did before but it still stung. "Better I hope. Those where deep cuts. Why didn't you call someone?"

I gave her a confused look. "Call someone?"

"For the broken light bulb. You should have called someone other than pick up the pieces yourself." She gave me a 'you should have known better' look. I had no idea what she was talking about but figured that Momo-sempai probably stayed here until she came and told her a story for how I hurt my hand.

"I took the liberty of bringing you some oranges and juice. You need to keep yourself hydrated and have plenty of vitamin C. From what Momoshiro-kun told me, you lost a lot of blood. It would be better if you went home."

I took some of the orange slices. "I can't go home. I have practice and we have a match this weekend."

"No buts Echizen-kun. You need to go home and recover. I bet you can't even see straight right now." She gave me a confident look.

She was right. I couldn't see straight. I felt sort of dizzy and my vision was a bit hazy. "If I go home and skip practice, Buchou will-"

"I will take the blame for whatever your captain says or does. You need to go home. I've already told your teachers that you will not be attending your classes today. You're free to go home."

Figuring that there was no way for me to win, I sighed, took some more orange slices and told her that I would go home. Someone must have visited while I was asleep because all of my things were in the room. As I gathered them up and headed out the door, the nurse stopped me.

"Oh Echizen-kun before you go, this is for you." She handed me an envelope. "A red haired boy came and asked me to give this to you when you woke up."

"Domo." I took the envelope from her.

"Go straight home Echizen-kun. I'll know if you don't." she gave me a smile. I thanked her and walked out the door.

* * *

I walked out of the school and down the street on my way home. My chest started to hurt. I realized that I hadn't looked at what was in the envelope the nurse gave me. I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. I opened it and found a letter with one sentence on it.

'_You need to wake up.'_

Why would someone tell me to wake up when I am awake reading about them telling me to wake up? It made no sense. I paid no attention to it and shoved it back into the envelope and put it back into my pocket. My hand started throbbing again and my chest got tight. I didn't know what was happening and to be frank, I was scared. I hurried back to my house to see someone standing in front of it.

"Who are you?" I asked the hooded figure in front of me.

"You need to wake up Echizen Ryoma, before it's too late." The figure replied.

"What?" I didn't understand. My chest suddenly constricted. It felt like I had been stabbed. I fell to my knees in unrelenting pain, squeezing my stomach. I looked at the figure in some hope that he could do something. He removed his hood to reveal red hair and an foul smile.

"Wake up Echizen Ryoma. You won't last much longer." He spoke something after that but I couldn't tell what it was. My hearing and sight had failed me and then I blacked out.

_You need to wake up! Wake up! Everyone's worried! Wake up!_

"That same dream again." I woke up to Karupin licking my nose. I looked at the clock and discovered that I only had a few minutes to get ready before the first bell rang. My hand felt a great deal better than it did yesterday. I jumped out of bed, changed and ran downstairs. I gathered my things, took a piece of toast and ran for the door.

"Oi seishounen, a letter came for you in the mail." Oyaji grabbed the back of my collar and shoved a letter into my hands.

"Baka! Let me go! I'm going to be late!" I took the letter and broke out of his grasp and ran out the door towards the school.

When I neared the school, I lessened my pace a bit and took out the letter that Oyaji gave me. I read the sentence and came to a full stop.

'_Time is running out. You need to wake up.'_

I didn't understand anything that was going on. This was the second time someone told me to wake up while I was awake. I stared at the letter in my hand for a few seconds until I heard the bell for class.

"Shimatta!" I shoved the letter in my pocket and ran for school.

* * *

I arrived at school but something seemed different. I didn't see any other normal late comers running for class or any others at all. It seemed to be like I was the only one. I made my way to the tennis courts. Everything was quiet. I didn't hear the normal sounds of balls hitting the ground or racquets. I didn't hear people yelling at others. I didn't hear Buchou threatening people with laps. I didn't hear anything.

I was in front of the courts when I saw someone in front of the gate. My chest got tight again and my hand started throbbing. I noticed a touch of red from the figure. It was the same person who was outside of my house yesterday. What did he want with the school's tennis courts?

I looked through the fence and was horrified. My sempai-tachi were lying on the ground, gasping for air, trying to breath. I ran past the person at the gate and ran to the closest person on the ground who happened to be Fuji-sempai.

"Fuji-sempai!" I was scared.

His eyes opened. "Echizen."

"What happened?"

"Saa, who knows." Fuji-sempai's voice was calm but shaky and full of fear and confusion. He coughed and a small stream of blood came from his mouth.

"Fuji-sempai!" I didn't know what to do. My mind went blank.

"Echizen, this will be the last time that we speak." Fuji-sempai became quieter and his voice more raspy. "I don't know how this happened but know this, we will never leave your side." He gave me a smile then shut his eyes.

"Fuji-sempai!" my chest became tighter and my hand started to ache. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. I looked around to all the other regulars. They had become like Fuji-sempai. Their bodies where there but their presence wasn't. Tears started rolling down my face.

"Echizen Ryoma, time is slipping. You need to wake up." The red headed figure walked onto the courts. "You should have listened to me and woken up before this had to happen."

I turned my crying face from Fuji-sempai and glared at him. "You did this. What did you do?" I was angry.

"You're the one that caused this. You should have woken up."

"I don't understand you!" it became hard to breathe. "I am awake! I'm talking to you while I'm awake!"

"Echizen Ryoma, you need to wake up."

"I am!"

_Wake up! Soon it will be too late!_

"What?" I held my head. "What was that?"

"You need to wake up."

_Hurry! Times running out!_

"Wake up."

_You must wake up!_

The pain in my chest became excruciating.

"Echizen Ryoma, wake up."

_Everyone needs you! You need to wake up!_

"Wake up."

_Please! Wake up!_

"Wake up."

_Chibisuke! You must wake up!_

My head felt like it was going to burst.

_Ochibi! Wake up before you no longer can!_

"Echizen Ryoma, find me if you can." The figure started walking away.

"Come back here you bastard!" I coughed up a small amount of blood.

_Echizen! Wake up!_

"Take a look at everything around you. This is your doing." The figure said from over his shoulder. "And soon, you will be joining them.

_Gaki, how long do you plan on keeping us waiting? Wake up._

"This is your fault."

_CHIBISUKE! WAKE UP!_

"I AM AWAKE DAMN IT!"

* * *

**Back at Camp. Normal POV**

Ryoga never left his side. He kept a close watch on Echizen for any signs of improvement. Echizen had been asleep for three days. He hadn't moved once since that time nor had he made a sound. The rain had stopped for a little while but it seemed to be starting back up.

"Chibisuke." He was so worried and angry. He wanted to do something to help like go out and find the plants but he didn't want to leave his brother's side. He felt so useless. "Please wake up."

Ryoga laid his head down next to Echizen and just looked at him. He could see a pained expression on his brother's face and wanted to change it. He couldn't bear to see a member of his family in pain. He changed the cloth on Echizen's forehead again, wishing for some sign that he was alright.

"Please Chibisuke. You need to wake up." Ryoga started to get glassy eyed. "I don't know what to do. Please." The rain started to fall heavily again. Ryoga's mind ventured away from Echizen for a moment and thought about the others, wondering how they were and if they were covered but his mind quickly returned to his brother.

"Chibisuke, wake up." He couldn't hold back the tears any longer. "You're making everyone worry." Ryoga was sobbing in one of the blankets. "Please. You're a fighter. Wake up." He was full on crying. "Please… please Chibisuke… wake up… WAKE UP!" He was crying into the side of the bed. He couldn't help it.

"I AM AWAKE DAMN IT!" Ryoga jumped at the sudden voice and picked his head up to see Echizen sitting up in bed.

"Chibisuke!"

"That bastard." Echizen hopped out of bed and ran to the door.

"Chibisuke, what do you think you're doing?" Ryoga jumped up and grabbed his arm. "Are you alright? You shouldn't be moving!" he pressed his hand to Echizen's head. "You're still burning up!"

"That doesn't matter. Let me go!" Echizen managed to shake off Ryoga's grip and ran outside.

"Chibisuke! Where the hell are you going?" Ryoga ran outside to try to follow but the wind and rain were too much and he lost sight of him. "Chibisuke!" he started shouting for him. "Chibisuke!"

"Ryoga-san!" Ryoga heard his name being called and could barely make out the figures of Kaidou, Hiyoshi and Gakuto running towards him.

"Ryoga-san, what are you shouting about?" Gakuto asked.

"Chibisuke! He- He ran off!" he replied.

"What do you mean he ran off?" Hiyoshi asked.

"We need to find him! He still has a really high fever and isn't thinking straight!"

"You need to calm down Ryoga-san." Kaidou placed his hand on Ryoga's shoulder. "We won't get anywhere by panicking. Do you know where he would run off to?"

"I-I don't," he was panicked and couldn't think straight. "He could have gone anywhere! I don't know why he-" he suddenly remember that Echizen was acting strangely when the storm very first began. "The river. He's probably headed for the river."

"Why would he go there?" Gakuto asked.

"Ryoga-san, we'll go fine the others. You go after Echizen." Kaidou said. He could see the concern in Ryoga's eyes.

"Hai!" Ryoga ran off in the general direction of the river.

"Why send him alone?" Hiyoshi asked.

"Fsshhh, being an older brother is difficult." Kaidou could speak from experience.

"Who would have thought? Kaidou Karou is so caring." Gakuto teased.

"Urasi!" Kaidou blushed.

"Shouldn't we be looking for the others?" Hiyoshi pointed out.

"Where would they be?"

"Who knows." Gakuto went inside of Echizen's cabin and took out his cell phone. "Oshitari, where are you?"

* * *

Echizen went running through the forest, stopping every so often to catch his breath. It was heard enough to breathe normally but seeing that it was raining and the wind was relentless, not to mention he could barely breathe anyway, it made it all the harder. He didn't care though. All he wanted to do was find the person responsible for making him that way.

He ran through the trees and passed boulders, through the wind and rain, making his way to the river, the last place he saw the hooded figure. The dream he had frightened him. He didn't care if he himself was hurt but if his teammates were injured and it was his fault, he didn't know what to do. Somehow, he thought that his dream would become reality. If he didn't find the person responsible for the attack on him, he would walk onto the courts one day and see his teammates all lying on the ground, motionless, with blood dripping form their mouths. He stopped one more time and felt his forehead. Even from the cod, wetness of the wind and rain, he was still burning up but he didn't care. He just didn't want his dream to become reality.

After what seemed like hours but was really only a few minutes, Echizen arrived at the river. He felt like he was going to pass out again. He caught his breath for a moment then began walking upstream to his fishing spot. He arrived to his spot and peered across the river. His sight was blurry and his head hurt. He steadied his sight and as his vision got a little clearer, he saw a figure duck behind a tree. He focused his eyes on the spot then carefully hopped down into the river. Normally, the river only went up to his shins or a little higher but since it was storming, the water was well past his chest and the current very strong.

Echizen crossed it with some difficulty and ran to where he saw the figure. The rain was a little lighter on the opposite side of the river. Perhaps the storm was ending or there were more trees for cover. Whatever it was, it help Echizen be able to see better. He rushed through the trees and come out into an open field. He examined the field and saw a hooded figure sitting in the center. He caught his breath and walked up to the figure.

"Who are you?" he asked in an unamused tone. "Why have you been attacking me?"

The figure turned and gave Echizen a chilling grin. "Echizen Ryoma, because of you, my family was ridiculed and laughed at and you will pay for it." He removed his hood to reveal his red hair and purple eyes. "Does this face remind you of anyone?"

"Is it suppose to?" Echizen said as he put his hand on his hip in annoyance. "It looks like a face that would annoy me."

A vein popped. "You bastard. This is the same face as my brother, Kuroki Tagura. You humiliated him in front of thousands."

Echizen gave him a puzzled look. "That still doesn't answer my question of who you are."

"I am his brother, Kuroki Taiga." Taiga took a breath. "Echizen Ryoma, I will make sure you suffer, just like he has suffered."

"What did I do exactly?" Echizen's face was totally bored.

"You still don't remember?" he gave a small chuckle. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore; his humiliation or your life."

Echizen's eyes widened as Taiga lunged at him. Seeing that he wasn't fully aware of what was happening, Taiga was able to tackle Echizen and pin him to the ground.

"How about now? Does having a close up jog your memory?" Taiga placed his face inches away from Echizen's. "You need to work on your long-term memory." Taiga took both of Echizen's hands and held them to the ground above his head. "Too bad. This was getting fun." He reached into his pocket and pulled out switchblade.

* * *

**O****kay, it's been a long week of anticipation and I know that you all have been really patient with wanting the end of the story to come and I love you all for it. Buuuuuut, I decided to split the last chapter into two! I figured, 'Eh, why not? They all **_**love**_** cliffhangers so much anyway.' **_***dodges all the things***_** Yeah, yeah, you hate me but would you rather wait longer for the last chapter or have more chapters and this not be the last one? For me, I would rather have more.**

**He's finally awake! Yeah Echizen! We all knew you were a fighter but now you have encountered someone who means you harm! What will you do? I still have to ask myself that. Part of the reason why I'm splitting this chapter up. Idea's need to start flowing!**

**Forgive mistakes!**

**Anyways, **_**next **_**chapter will be last. Promise. Have fun waiting for it! Bai!**


	9. Confrontation

**That was a long and suspenseful wait, just like Harry Potter™. I promise that this is the last chapter. I'll try to make it as long as the previous and just as awesome.**

**What's up everyone? I hope that all of you have enjoyed the story! Sorry for all the late updates. Summer is a lot busier than I intended. But whatever, I'll get it done sooner or later. I'll try to have it out in a week's time again but if not, oh well.**

**Okay, **_**now**_** it's the last time. I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis… oh, the things I'd make them do if I did.**

**Last Chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

"You still don't remember?" he gave a small chuckle. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore; his humiliation or your life."

Echizen's eyes widened as Taiga lunged at him. Seeing that he wasn't fully aware of what was happening, Taiga was able to tackle Echizen and pin him to the ground.

"How about now? Does having a close up jog your memory?" Taiga placed his face inches away from Echizen's. "You need to work on your long-term memory." Taiga took both of Echizen's hands and held them to the ground above his head. "Too bad. This was getting fun." He reached into his pocket and pulled out switchblade.

* * *

"Chibisuke!… Chibisuke!" Ryoga kept running through the woods, calling for Echizen every few steps. He got to the edge of the woods and reached the river. He stood for a few seconds and watched as it whooshed by, thinking about what could have happened if Echizen had tried to cross and failed.

"Chibisuke…" he dropped to his hands and knees, breathless and panting, and looked up at the sky. The rain was pouring down and landed atop his head. The sky was dark, the darkest it had been the whole time it had stormed. The clouds boomed and the sky lit up from lightning. Images flashed before Ryoga's eyes, images and things he would never want to see or wish anyone else had to see. Tears formed in his eyes and started running down his face. He hadn't noticed that he started crying since the rain was also running down his face.

"Ryoga-san!" he heard his name being called by several people. He turned his head to his right and saw all the Hyoutei regulars and Seigaku regulars running towards him.

"Minna." He cleared away the rain and tears from his face only for more to fall in their place.

"Ryoga-san, what happened?" Fuji asked.

"What did Gakuto mean when he said that you said that Echizen ran off?" Shishido added.

"And why did we come to the river?" questions were coming out of everyone's mouths.

Ryoga sat and looked at them, unable to comprehend what to do or say. His mind was full of what could happen to his brother if his attacker found him or if he found the attacker.

"Shizukani." Atobe snapped his fingers and everyone fell silent.

"Ryoga-san, where is Echizen?" Tezuka asked in a worried yet stern tone.

Ryoga looked at Tezuka with sorrowful eyes.

"Ryoga-san." Oishi came up and placed his hand on his shoulder.

Ryoga shifted his gaze to Oishi for a second then back to Tezuka. "He just woke up."

"What do you mean?" the rain had stopped Inui from taking out his notebook. "Can you explain?"

"There's nothing to explain Inui-kun. He just woke up. There's no simpler way to put it." Ryoga looked at the ground. "I was sitting at the side of the bed telling him to wake up and then he sat up and shouted 'I am wake damn it'."

Everyone looked at each other with troubled expressions.

"He hopped out of bed and ran for the door but I grabbed him and tried to make him get back in bed. He still had a really high fever but he managed to escape my hold and ran out the door."

"What makes you think he would come to the river Ryoga-san?" Choutaro asked.

"After we met up with everyone right after the rain started and we were heading back to camp, Chibisuke kept looking over his shoulder back towards the bank. He also addressed someone as 'that bastard' when he woke up."

Everyone's looks became more puzzled. Tezuka, Atobe and Fuji were scratching their heads.

"Where was the exact place that Echizen was before we met up with him?" Fuji asked.

Everyone in the group looked to Shishido.

"Uno, I found him a bit farther up the river." Shishido said as he pointed further upstream.

"We should look there before we come to any conclusions." Tezuka said.

Everyone agreed with him and followed Shishido further up the river to the spot where he found Echizen a few days before. He led them to a small clearing just from the tree line. It had a tree overlooking the ground and a small pile of rocks where Echizen had placed his pole to make it look like he was fishing when he was sleeping.

Unlike the water further downstream, the water here was much higher, rougher and seemed to be going downstream at a faster pace. Ryoga dreaded the thought of what could have happen if Echizen tried to cross and got carried downstream.

"This is where you found him?" Momo asked.

"Ah. He was sitting there," Shishido pointed to the trunk of the tree. "Acting like he was fishing but was probably trying to sleep."

"Nya, but why would he come back here?" Kikumaru asked.

"Maybe he saw his attacker from before and came back to confront him." Gakuto said.

"Fsshhh, he should've swallowed his pride and just asked for help." Kaidou hissed.

"Knowing Echizen, that is a highly unlikely outcome." Inui said trying to wipe the rain from his glasses.

"Also seeing that he isn't a very patient person, he wouldn't wait here for him to show up again." Oshitari added. "He probably crossed the river and is searching for him over there as we speak."

"But, what would have happened if he tried to cross and he was carried down the river?" Oishi was a panicky mother hen who was thinking the same exact thing as Ryoga.

"Don't think like that Oishi. Echizen is stronger than he looks." Taka said.

"That coming from the one with the most knowledge in that area." Hiyoshi said.

A few muffled snickers were heard from each group. Tezuka and Atobe gave them all disapproving death stares. Ryoga ventured away from the group and went to the edge of the water.

"Don't worry. We'll find him." Jirou placed his hand on Ryoga's shoulder.

"We'll find him and the person responsible for this whole thing." Choutaro said coming up to him.

"But… what if something's happened?" Ryoga voiced his panic. "What if he tried to cross the river and got carried downstream like Oishi-kun said?"

"You need to try to stay positive Ryoga-san. The storm is worse now than before. The water was probably calmer then and if Echizen did try to cross, he's probably on the other side right now.

"Jirou is correct. We should get to the other side." Atobe said. "Who knows what the brat got himself into. Kabaji."

"Usu." Atobe snapped his fingers and Kabaji slowly stepped into the river. Everyone watched as he stumbled a bit. The current of the river was stronger than it seemed. Nonetheless, he was able to withstand the current and stood about in the middle of the river.

"You go next." Atobe pointed to Taka.

"Ha? What good will I do?" he asked in defense.

"We're going to make a chain from one side to the other."

"Demo, what would happen if I-"

"Kore, Taka-san." Fuji picked up a stick and shoved it into Taka's hands.

"MOERUZE BURNING!" steam started coming from Taka's clothes. "I'LL GET ACROSS THAT RIVER IN NO TIME! LET'S GO BABY!"

Everyone sweat dropped as they watched Taka run into the river towards Kabaji. They all watched as he lost his balance and dropped the stick into the water. He quickly came out of his burning mode and grabbed onto Kabaji for balance. A few chuckles were heard then one by one everyone did the same thing. They went into the river then traveled to Taka and Kabaji then went over to the other side.

* * *

"See, that want so bad." Fuji said with a smile.

"Fuji-sempai, please don't help us next time." Momo said. **(Use your imagination for what Fuji did to 'help')**

Fuji's smile widened. Everyone was standing on the side of the bank, wringing out their shirts even though their efforts were useless because of the rain. Ryoga shock his head to get rid of the extra water then looked around for any sign that Echizen made it across the river safely. As he tried to walk, he discovered that his feet we stuck in the mud. He wiggled them free and saw some footprints a little farther up from the water. He went over to see that there were two sets of prints.

"What is it Ryoga-san?" Shishido walked to him and saw the footprints in the mud. "Minna!"

Everyone went running over to Shishido and Ryoga to see the two sets of footprints.

"Ah! Those must be Ochibi's footprints!" Kikumaru said as he squatted next to Ryoga and pointed to the smaller set of the prints.

"If those are Echizen's, then the others must belong to his attacker." Oshitari said.

"The larger prints were here first." Inui said.

"How do you know that?" Oishi asked.

"Echizen's prints aren't as far down in the mud meaning that it wasn't raining that hard as it is now. The ground was able to dry ever so slightly while the larger prints are down farther meaning that the ground was muddier before Echizen walked this way."

"Inui, try to speak a language we understand." Kikumaru complained.

"Inui-sempai, you lost me at the larger prints were first." Momo whined.

"Fsshhh, baka." Kaidou hissed.

"All he said was that Echizen's prints followed after the first set." Gakuto said.

Kikumaru and Momo gave them annoyed looks and pouted. "We can't all be as smart as him…" they said under their breath.

"Now we know that he's over here somewhere." Tezuka said.

"Saa, lets follow the prints and see if they lead us to Echizen." Fuji added.

"Ah!" everyone agreed and started following the footprints.

"Chibisuke…"

* * *

The two teams of regulars walked through the forest along with the footprints that they found. They soon stopped in the middle of the woods, trying to find more footprints but they had all gone.

"Where should we go now?" Atobe asked with an aggravated look. "The prints are gone."

"Why don't we keep going straight?" Taka asked.

"What good would that do? They could have gone anywhere." Hiyoshi pointed out.

"Nya, but that's better than nothing!" Kikumaru protested.

"But what's the point if we go in the completely wrong direction?" Oshitari said.

"We have to do something! Echizen is out there!" Momo shouted.

Everyone started arguing about what to do and which way to go. Atobe looked at them disapprovingly and Tezuka sighed and rubbed his temples. Fuji gave them a lite smile then went to Ryoga. He was still examining the last of the tracks on the ground.

"What is it Ryoga-san?" he asked.

"It doesn't make any sense. Why would they just stop?" Ryoga was puzzled. "Even though the rain is starting to stop now and the ground isn't as muddy, there should still be tracks."

"Saa, that is rather strange." Fuji scratched his chin. "What do you think we should do?"

"That's just it. I don't know what to do anymore. After all the things that have happened… I'm beginning to doubt my abilities as an older brother."

Fuji placed his hand on Ryoga's shoulder. "Being an older brother isn't easy. I have no idea how you feel right now but I do know this, we will find Echizen and the person responsible for all of this."

"Arigato Fuji-kun but… something just doesn't feel right."

"How so?"

"I don't know, it's just.-" there was a sudden scream.

"What was that?" Kikumaru asked.

Ryoga's eyes widened. "Chibisuke…"

"Ryoga-san…" Fuji tried to place his hand back on his shoulder.

"Chibisuke!" Ryoga ran off in the direction of the scream.

"Ryoga-san!" Fuji ran after him followed by everyone else.

* * *

"Ryoga-san!"

"Matte!"

"Ryoga-san, please slow down!"

Ryoga ignored the pleas and shouts of everyone behind him asking him to slow down. He wasn't thinking. All his power was directed to his feet and running in the direction of the scream. He thought of all the things that could have happened to make someone scream like that and his face was struck with horror when he thought that Echizen could have been the one that screamed.

He ran for what seemed like forever. Time seemed to be drawn out; seconds seemed like minutes, minutes seemed like eternities and it didn't seem like he was running anywhere. Everything felt like it was taking longer than it naturally should but that didn't stop him. Ryoga kept on running, hoping that when he found the source of the scream, _if_ he found the source of the scream, it wouldn't be what he thought.

Ryoga ran thought the trees. His lungs felt like they were on fire but he didn't stop. He ran all the way to the edge of the trees. Only then did he stop to catch his breath. He placed his hand on the side of a tree and leaned over and tried to breathe. He heard all the muffled shouts of everyone shouting to him and ignored them.

"Ryoga-san! Please! Matteo!" The shouts became louder as the rest of the regulars caught up to him. Just as they caught up with him at the tree he was resting at, they all noticed his eyes were locked on something in the middle of the field.

"Minna… that's-" Choutaro made a gesture to everyone but before he could finish his sentence, Ryoga took off towards the center of the field.

* * *

"How did it feel? Being treated like a child for so long even though you are perfectly capable of handling yourself?" Taiga pressed the blade against Echizen's neck.

"Heh. It's not that different from how I'm normally treated by everyone." Echizen smirked.

"Do you realize the situation you're in right now?" he pressed the blade harder. "I don't think you're in a position to make me mad."

"Seeing that you still haven't done anything, it seems that I'm in the perfect position."

Taiga glared at Echizen and slowly removed the blade from his neck. "You're more cocky than most people say." He got off of Echizen. "You think that everything will be fine and you'll walk away unscathed, am I right?"

Echizen stood up and rubbed his neck.

"Well you're wrong. That's the problem with people like you; you always underestimate your opponents and if you keep doing that, one day, it could get you killed."

Echizen looked at him with discontent and took his hand from his neck. "What are you talking about?" Suddenly, there was a swift wind. Echizen looked to the trees for no particular reason then felt a shape sting on his arm. He looked down to see a rather deep horizontal gash with blood pouring out of it. He gave a rather loud yelp of pain as realization struck him.

"That day changed everything. I tried to follow in my brother's footsteps but tennis just didn't suit me." He took out another knife. "It seemed that my abilities were fine but there were some things that- didn't click."

"What kind of things?" Echizen clutched his arm.

"I couldn't handle losing as well as the other guy." He twirled the blade in his palm. "When I lose, like all, I feel disappointed. After a short time, disappointment turns into rage and if you can't tell, I'm not too good at controlling my temper. I was on my school's team for a mouth or two and during that time, I put six people in the hospital."

Fear started to loom over Echizen and his confidence and strength started to fade.

"I got kicked off the team for being overly violent. My parents thought that it would be a good idea to somehow channel that rage and enrolled me in lots of different sports like Kendo, Jujitsu and Ninjutsu. **(Sorry if those are the wrong types of sports. I'm taking what I know from other anime and what Wiki has told me)** As you can see, I've become quite talented with blades." He twirled the knife in his hand and it multiplied into a second one.

"What does any of that have to do with me?" Echizen had to fight the urge to sit. _'And what the hell did you do to me?'_

"My brother continued his tennis career and was able to go to the American Junior Division and play to compete in nationals. Unfortunately, you were his first opponent in that and he never got another chance. You crushed him completely, not giving a second thought about what could happen."

"How is his defeat my fault? I beat him fair and square. It's his fault for not being at maximum level." Another blade flew past Echizen and made a second gash lower on his arm.

"He was at the peak of his game. He was the top player at his school _and_ he was the oldest for the age level in that competition. You on the other hand, you just had to be there and be the youngest. Do you know how humiliating it is for the oldest competitor to be beat by the youngest?"

"Age had nothing to do with it. The only thing that matters is skill and experience." Echizen motioned his hand from the first gash to the second.

Taiga stared at Echizen. The rage was building. He couldn't stand that Echizen was belittling his family. Echizen stared right back at him though it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open let alone stand without falling. Taiga saw Echizen having trouble and took advantage of it.

"If it's getting hard to stand, you can sit if it makes it easier." Taiga teased. Echizen scowled at the comment. "Your vision is becoming blurry and your eyelids feel heavier than usual right? That should be the second effect of the substance from earlier. The weakness in your legs is coming from the poison that has just entered your body and soon, it will hurt to breathe or perhaps it already does considering that you had a double dose, not to mention the powder from earlier and the fever it caused."

Echizen squeezed his arm. As much as he didn't want it, Taiga was right. His vision was blurry, it was becoming more difficult to stand and keep his eyes open. The fever he had earlier wasn't gone and he ran outside in the rain which made it worse. His chest felt tight making it hard to breathe and the last thing he wanted was to pass out and be helpless in the hands of some deranged psycho. He automatically assumed that by 'double dose' Taiga meant that he laced his blades with some sort of poison.

He began to regret running out of the safety of his cabin and away from all his teammates. He wished that he could run away somewhere and sleep it off but he was so weak, he didn't know how far he would get before collapsing.

"You should have stayed in your cabin." Echizen was caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Taiga had approached him.

They both stared into each other's souls. Echizen saw his reflection in the bird-like byzantium eyes of Taiga and Taiga saw his reflection in the golden cat-like eyes of Echizen.

"I think it's time to put you out of your misery." Taiga pulled out a larger blade and slapped it in the center of his palm. Just as he was about to make his move, he heard shouting in the distance. He stopped what he was doing and turned his head. "Eh? It seems that your friends have found us."

Echizen didn't turn his head must looked in the direction Taiga had turned. He was telling the truth. There was a figure standing on the tree line and Echizen couldn't help but give a small smile.

"What took you so long?" he asked under his breath. The smile that was on his face quickly vanished. He felt a sharp sting on the right side of his torso. He looked down to see Taiga's hand grasping the hilt of the blade, pressing into him.

"They can't save you." Taiga pulled the blade out. "You'll die from the poison or blood loss."

Echizen stumbled back grasping his side, trying to stop the bleeding. He could hear Ryoga calling for him and struggled to stay upright.

"You can still stand? I'm impressed but why not just drop dead know so everyone else won't have to suffer like you?" Taiga wiped Echizen's blood from his blade.

"Y-You… bast-ard…" it hurt for Echizen to talk.

"Chibisuke!" Ryoga ran behind Echizen and stopped a few feet away. He noticed the blade in Taiga's hand and the blood trickling from Echizen's arm. "Chibisuke?"

Echizen turned to face him. "You're… late…" he couldn't take it anymore. All of Echizen's strength had left him and he began to fall to the ground.

"Chibisuke!" Ryoga made a mad dash to his falling brother and caught him before he hit the ground. His face went white. Echizen's arm was drenched in blood and his shirt… it was becoming a bright shade of crimson with the blood pouring out of his wound.

Ryoga started shaking. He never could imagine that he would be holding his brother's almost completely lifeless, blood drenched body. Echizen's breathing was hard and fast. The color was draining from his face. He tried to keep pressure on his stomach but he was so tired that his arm kept sliding from it.

"Ryoga…" Echizen tried to address his brother.

"Don't talk! We're going to get you out of here!" Ryoga's eyes were filling with tears.

"I doubt that he'll last that long." Ryoga looked up to see Taiga with his hands behind his head looking at the sky. "With all the poison in his system and his continuous loss of blood, he's likely to die within the hour."

"You—you did this?" Ryoga lowered his head to look back at Echizen. Taiga gave an amused and sinister snicker.

"Ryoga-san!" all the others came running and stopped just behind him. Their faces had looks of horror when they saw a body in his hands.

"What the hell is this?" Atobe looked at the lifeless body in Ryoga's arms.

"Echizen/Ochibi!" all the Seigaku regulars rushed to his side. Oishi dropped to his knees at Echizen's side, not fully grasping what had happened. Kikumaru started bawling into Taka's shoulder then they both fell to the ground in disbelief. Inui stared, speechless with notebook nowhere in sight. Fuji's eyes were wide open and Tezuka's stoic stare became on filled with skepticism and fear. Momo and Kaidou stood speechless, gazing down at Echizen.

The Hyoutei regulars didn't know what to do. Should they go to the Seigaku regulars or stay where they were? Seeing that even though Echizen was a member of the Seigaku regulars, they Hyoutei team all felt that they had some sort of bond with him. He felt like an annoying little brother that they never had. They all had some sort of affectionate feeling for him even if some of them would never admit it.

"Ryoga-san… is- he…" Momo didn't want to say it.

"Iya, he's still breathing." He wiped the tears from his face. "But he needs to be treated _now._"

"Ryoga-san is right." Oishi was pressing his hands on Echizen's side and trying to tend his wound. "If he keeps losing blood, at this rate-"

"Yadda! Ochibi is a fighter! There's no way he'll give in!" Kikumaru lifted his tear stained face from Taka's shoulder.

"I told you already. You have no hope of saving him." Taiga was getting board.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kaidou gave him a death glare. "And what the hell do you know about if he'll make it or not?"

"He's the one that did this Kaidou-kun." Ryoga's eyes narrowed and scowled at Taiga.

"Nani?" Momo and Kaidou gave Ryoga a quick glance then clenched their fists and glared at Taiga.

"Why did you do this?" Tezuka took a step forward.

"Why Echizen?" Fuji looked as if he would pounce.

"And how did you get into Ore-sama's camp?" the Hyoutei regulars gathered around everyone else.

"Heh. He deserved it. He deserved to suffer and die like that day he defeated my brother." He turned to Atobe. "And you're not too good at covering your tracks." Atobe huffed in a disapproving tone.

"What do you mean? Did Echizen hurt your family?" Oshitari didn't believe what he had heard.

"That day, everything changed. When Echizen faced my brother in the American Junior Division, my brother was crushed completely. His dream of being a world famous tennis player died that day. When we returned to our home, he got teased and ridiculed at school for being weak and being the first one to lose in the competition. The mocking never stopped, not for a long time." He pointed to Echizen. "He needed to know what it felt like to suffer, to watch the dreams he had slowly drift away and die."

"Your brother's not dead!" Shishido shouted. "Why should he have to?" he gestured to Echizen.

"My brother did die that day! He was never the same person after that. He never hung out with his team anymore; he never wanted to see another ball or racquet again. His love for tennis was gone and his fighting spirit was broken."

"That's not the same thing." Hiyoshi said.

"I've had enough of this." Momo was furious.

"What kind of stupid excuse is that?" Kaidou was enraged.

"What kind of sick bastard would do something like that?" Gakuto shouted.

Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing. Momo, Kaidou, Taka, Kikumaru, Gakuto, Jirou, Shishido, Oshitari and Choutaro all took a few steps towards Taiga.

"Oh? Isn't this a little unfair?" he placed his hands on his hips.

"Has this whole thing been fair?" Jirou shouted as he, Momo and Kaidou ran at him.

"Be careful! He has blades hidden on his body!" Ryoga shouted to them.

"Like I'd waste perfectly good knives on them!" Taiga retorted as the three boys came in striking range. "My arms and legs are more than enough for them to handle!"

Kaidou was the first to reach him and pulled his arm back for a punch. He swung it forward only to be stopped by Taiga grabbing it in mid swing. Taiga took his other arm and grabbed Kaidou's forearm and swung him over his shoulder. Momo was next. He proceeded to punch Taiga but he dodged then took Momo's hand and pressed it against his back making Momo let out a painful grunt. He kicked his back, making him fall onto Kaidou. Jirou was the only one with a little success. Instead of punching, he faked like he was going to but instead ducked down and swung his leg towards Taiga, making him fall to the ground and giving Jirou the chance to subdue him.

Taiga landed on his back and Jirou quickly got on top of him and held him down. "You think this will be enough?" Taiga asked with a smirk. He wrapped his legs around Jirou's waist then head-butted him. He then pressed his feet to his stomach and rolled back, kicking him to land on Momo and Kaidou.

"I was right, this isn't fair. You may have to bring in reinforcements." Taiga sneered with a glance to the three boys groaning on the ground.

"Teme!" The rest of the boys charged and tried to attack but the outcome was the same. They all ended up in the pile with Kaidou, Momo and Jirou.

"I should have told you before we started that I am highly ranked in several martial arts classes." He stretched out his arms. "But I have to say that this is the best workout I've gotten in a long time. Would the rest like a shot?" he cracked his knuckles.

Tezuka, Atobe, Inui and Fuji glared at the gesture. Oishi was panicking because he didn't know if he should rush to the others to see if they were alright or if he should stay with Echizen and try to mend his wound better. Kabaji took a step forward but was stopped by Atobe.

"Cut the bullshit you bastard." Ryoga placed Echizen into Oishi's arms. "You think that you're God? You think you have the power to decide who lives and who dies? You have no right. You're just a spoiled kid."

"Do you have the ability to back those words? Do you think you have the capability to decide who lives and who dies?" Taiga placed his hands at his sides.

"I have the capability of knowing right from wrong and that you haven't the common sense to tell which from which!" Ryoga rushed at him.

"Hmph. I'll make you regret saying that." He rushed at Ryoga.

All the others watched at the fight between Ryoga and Taiga and were amazed. Ryoga was able to hold his ground against Taiga fairly well. He was even able to take the upper hand at some points.

"I'm surprised." Taiga said as he blocked a kick. "You have skill."

"You're not the only one who grew up in the states." He answered as he swung around and kicked again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he blocked the kick again.

"I've noticed that between my time spent in the states and here in Japan, you need to know how to defend yourself if you go to the states."

"You bastard." Taiga, who had been on the defensive, started attacking Ryoga. "Don't demean my homeland!"

"It's not demeaning if it's true!"

Taiga had enough. His movements got quicker and his attacks stronger. Ryoga had a hard time keeping up with him. Taiga managed to sock Ryoga in the jar causing him to stumble then he swung his legs underneath him, making him trip and fall on his back. Taiga then hopped on top of Ryoga and punched him again giving him a bloody nose.

"You know, I'm getting really tired of your blabbing." He pulled a knife out of his belt. "Maybe you should be with your dear brother."

"Oi! Stop it!" Oishi set Echizen's head down gently. "Enough of this! There has already been enough blood shed!" he looked at his hands that were stained with Echizen's blood. "I don't want this anymore!"

"It's not your decision is it now?" Taiga ignored Oishi's pleas for peace.

"What's the point of all of this?" Fuji was angry. "Revenge for your brother?"

"Of course."

"If he wanted revenge, wouldn't he come do it himself?" Tezuka had a good point.

"He's too soft to do it himself!"

"Did he ever show sighs that he wanted revenge?" Inui pointed out.

"Wha- stop asking questions!"

"Ore-sama guesses that means 'no'." Atobe said.

"Urasi! You have no control of the situation!" he placed the blade on Ryoga's skin. "I'll send him to meet his brother and then everything will be settled!" he scratched the blade on Ryoga's cheek.

"Matte!"

"Wait!"

"Stop it!"

"It's too late to stop! His fate is sealed!" Taiga raised the blade above his head and was going to plunge it down when he felt something hit the back of his head.

"L-Leave him… alone you- bastard."

Taiga turned to see Echizen standing on his feet, holding his side and gasping for air.

"Echizen/Gaki/Ochibi!" everyone shouted to him.

"C-Chibisuke!" Ryoga moved his head to see Echizen standing in front of him and tears stared forming in his eyes.

"Y-You!" Taiga's rage was at its peak. "Why the hell are you still alive?"

"I have… meaning to live… and people to- live for." Echizen's breathing was hard and he could barely stand.

"You 'have meaning to live'? Weak people have no meanings!" Taiga rose from Ryoga and faced Echizen.

"Apparently- I'm stronger than… you." He smirked.

"You cocky bastard!" Taiga threw his knife down, reached into the back of his pants and pulled out a pistol. "I would've really enjoyed the old fashioned way of your death but it seems that drastic measures will have to be taken."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ryoga sat up.

Taiga pointed the gun at Ryoga. "Shut. Up."

"Leave them… out of this. They- have nothing to… do with this." Echizen took a step forward.

"Echizen-" Fuji took a step towards him.

"No Fuji-sempai. This isn't- your fight."

"You know your place." Taiga pointed the gun back at Echizen.

"Leave them out- of this." He took another step forward.

"Echizen! What the hell are you talking about?" Momo shouted.

"You can't Ochibi!" Kikumaru screamed.

"Echizen!"

Everyone started shouting things at Echizen. He couldn't make out what they were all saying for one because everyone was shouting at the same time but mainly because his senses had started to fail him. His vision was even more blurry than before, his mouth was dry and he couldn't smell anything. He tried to make sense of all the talking when it all went quiet with a loud boom. He looked up to see that Taiga had pointed the gun in the air and fired.

"I don't care for loud environments." He cocked the gun and pointed it at Echizen. "He's dead anyways. Wouldn't you like to be put out of your misery? I'm sure the suffering is unbearable."

"Stop pointing that thing at him!" Ryoga leaped from the ground and tried to tackle him. Taiga, being trained in martial arts, dodged Ryoga's tackle then pistol whipped him in the jaw sending him flying back to Momo and the others.

"Ryoga-san!" everyone called to him.

"Ryoga! You bastard. Leave them- out of this!" Echizen shouted.

"I'm getting tired of all the interference!" Taiga screamed. "The next person who moves will get a bullet through their skull!"

Everyone was still, not knowing if he was bluffing or not. Taiga looked around at everyone then turned to Echizen. He took a step forward and opened his arms.

"I moved you bastard." Echizen gave him an unyielding glare.

"I knew it would be you." Taiga pointed the pistol at him and pulled the trigger.

* * *

**Two and a half weeks later…**

"Why did it turn out like this?" Momo complained.

"Why does anything happen anymore?" Taka said.

"Saa, maybe this is just what was planned out for us." Fuji said.

"Nya, but everything always happens to us." Kikumaru whined.

"Kikumaru is right. The chance of things happening to us is a 78% increase than most others." Inui said reading from his notebook.

"What types of things will happen to us now?" Oishi asked a bit panicky.

"Fsshhh, some things are better left unanswered Oishi-sempai." Kaidou hissed.

Tezuka merely sighed as he walked with the group of depressed boys down the street. He was left thinking about all the things that had happened a few weeks before: they had been invited to Hyoutei's private campgrounds and when they arrived, a member of their team had been attacked on numerous occasions. He had no idea how Echizen could have felt at those times, nor did he want too. Tezuka snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a voice calling to everyone from behind. The voice turned out to belong to Ryoga.

"Minna!" Ryoga ran down the street to them.

"Ryoga-san." The mood lifted slightly when Ryoga got to them.

"How have things been Ryoga-san?" Fuji asked.

"Uno…" he rubbed the back of his head.

"You don't need to answer if the question was too personal." Oishi said.

"Iya, its fine. Things have been quieter than usual. Otou-san keeps saying 'If I ever find the bastard that did this…' and never quite completes his thought of what he'll do. Okaa-san is still having a hard time believing that all of that happened and Nanako is trying to get in the habit of not making food for five."

"Nya, but it won't last for too much longer right?" Kikumaru asked.

"Only about another week or two right?" Taka added.

"Ah then everything should hopefully be back to normal."

They group of boys walked down the street and arrived in front of a hospital. They ventured inside and went to the fifth floor and entered the third room on the right. When they entered the room, they saw a boy lying on the bed.

Ryoga sighed when he saw him. "Don't you wish he made a cute face like that all the time?"

"Saa, it does sort of suit him." Fuji said.

"How can you say that Fuji-sempai?" Momo said. "That face weirds me out, especially on him."

The face everyone was referring to was the face that Echizen makes while he's sleeping. His face was full of bliss and comfort. It had been a long time since anyone had seen Echizen looking so serene.

"Whose face weirds out who Momo-sempai?" Echizen rolled over on the bed. "At least I don't have that face." He pointed to a mirror across from Momo. "It's terrifying."

Momo looked into the mirror only to realize after the fact that Echizen was making fun of him. "You bastard." Momo gave an annoyed playful chuckle.

"How do you feel Echizen?" Oishi asked.

"Bored. The people here don't let me do anything."

"Considering what you've been through Chibisuke, they probably just want to make sure that you're completely healed before they let you do anything." Ryoga said taking a seat next to him on the bed.

Echizen gave him a frustrated pout but knew that he was right. He began to think about what had happened those few weeks ago.

* * *

**Flashback. Two and a half weeks ago…**

"_I moved you bastard." Echizen gave him an unyielding glare._

"_I knew it would be you." Taiga pointed the pistol at Echizen and pulled the trigger._

_Everyone was shouting at Taiga to stop and at Echizen to move out of the way. Neither of them did as they were told. Through all the shouting, the bang of Taiga's gun was heard and it sounded as if it echoed. Everyone was horrified to see Echizen stagger and fall to his knees but they were even more stunned to see Taiga's gun fly out of his hand and see him grasp his hand in pain._

"_Chibisuke!" Ryoga ran to his brother as did everyone else._

"_What the hell was that?" Taiga kept stretching and retracting his fingers._

_Atobe stood in front of him and cleared his throat. "Kabaji."_

"_Usu." Kabaji took an air horn from one of the cabins out of his pocket and pressed it. It let out a loud, high-pitched squeal. After a few seconds, Atobe snapped his fingers and Kabaji took his finger off of it and waited._

"_What was that supposed to do?" Taiga asked as he took his hands from his ears._

_Atobe smirked and snapped his fingers again and this time, dozens of people in black emerged from the trees and surrounded everyone._

"_N-Nani?" Taiga spun around to see everyone coming in closer._

"_Did you honestly think that all that you've done would have gone down in secret?" Atobe gave him a 'that was a stupid assumption' look. "After what happened in the bath, Ore-sama contacted his squad of secret police and told them to remain hidden until the time was right." __**(This is so corny. If you've seen Host Club, think of episode 7 or 8 with Honey-sempai getting lost in the forest-pool place. Those secret police.) **__"You can thank Oteku-san for your hand." Atobe pointed to a tree. Taiga looked and saw the glint of a sniper scope through the leaves._

"_S-Sona…" Taiga dropped to his knees inn defeat._

"_Take him. We'll give our statements later." Atobe said._

"_Hai!" two people in black approached Taiga, grabbed his arms and brought him to his feet when he started laughing._

"_Heh heh. You caught me I'll give you that but was it in time?" he looked back at Echizen._

"_Atobe-san!" Choutaro called to him._

"_Chibisuke! Chibisuke!" Ryoga was relentlessly calling Echizen._

"_Atobe-san, we need to get him out of here now!" Taka said._

"_His pulse is getting weaker!" Oishi shouted as he placed his index and middle fingers on Echizen's wrist._

"_Haha! What did I tell you? He'll die within the hour!" Taiga started laughing maniacally._

"_You bastard!" Momo and Kaidou lunged themselves at him only to be stopped by other people in black. "We'll kill you!"_

"_Killing me won't bring him back!" Taiga was excited about the situation._

"_Stop talking like he's dead! He's still here with us!" Kikumaru shouted._

"_Atobe." Tezuka gave Atobe a stern yet pleading and concerned look._

"_Get your chopper here now." Atobe seemed to be talking to the commander of the squad._

"_Hai Atobe-sama!" The commander radioed the other part of his squad and told them their coordinates. The chopper was there in seconds. The men inside carefully loaded Echizen inside. Ryoga naturally went with._

"_Take them to the nearest hospital. Speed is a factor. A boy's life is at stake. Get there quick and safe!" the commander closed the door to the chopper and everyone watched as it flew off._

"_Do you have another?" Atobe asked the commander._

"_Hai." He answered._

"_Take him." He pointed to Taiga who was still laughing._

"_What about you sir?"_

"_Today is the day we were meant to be picked up anyways. We'll just take the bus."_

_With that said the people in black, along with Taiga, called the second chopper and were on their way to a holding facility. The rest of the people in black disappeared into the forest once again. Atobe, Tezuka and the others started back to the camp when they were stopped by the captain._

"_Atobe-sama, I have been informed that your friend has been taken to your city's general hospital and is being treated as we speak."_

"_Alright" Atobe nodded at him then at Tezuka._

"_Minna." Tezuka's voice was stern. "Go get your things. We're leaving."_

"_Ah!" everyone complied and ran off to their cabins to get their things._

_Back at the campgrounds, everyone was waiting for the bus to come and get them. Choutaro and Jirou had Echizen's things and Kikumaru and Shishido had Ryoga's. Everyone was silently waiting for the bus until Momo couldn't stand it anymore._

"_Where the hell is the bus? We've been waiting forever."_

"_We've only been waiting for five minutes." Kaidou hissed. "Be patient."_

"_How can I be patient at a time like this?"_

"_Momo panicking won't make the bus come any faster." Kikumaru said in a sad tone._

"_Maybe we should have just gone in the chopper." Hiyoshi said._

"_That had to be used for a different issue." Inui said._

"_Does that make it more important?"_

"_Don't try to win against him. It won't work." Gakuto said looking at the ground._

_Everyone started arguing about the things they should and shouldn't have done while they were staying there. The quiet was long gone. Tezuka rubbed his temples and sighed._

"_Saa, doing this will only make things worse." Fuji said._

"_Doing this will solve nothing." Tezuka replied._

"_They're just really worried."_

"_I hope the bus gets here soon."_

_Like a moth to fire, the bus arrived. Everyone quieted back down and piled in. Atobe instructed the driver that instead of going to the school to go straight to the hospital. The driver did as he was told and went straight to the hospital. __

_After a while of driving, everyone finally arrived at the hospital. They all rushed inside to see Ryoga sitting on a bench with his hands folded under his chin and his elbows resting on his legs. Upon coming closer, everyone could see Ryoga's face was red and had a small trickle of tears coming down each side._

"_Ryoga-san-" Oishi went and sat next to him. "Are you alright?"_

"_Oishi-kun." Ryoga wiped the tears from his face. "Minna."_

"_Ryoga-san, how's Ochibi?" Kikumaru asked in a scared, quiet voice._

_He gave Kikumaru a sad glance. "He's in surgery. They said that the knife wound didn't hit anything vital but it was very deep. He's also lost a considerable amount of blood. Not to mention all the toxins that were in his system. They said it's a miracle that he's still breathing."_

"_What about the gun shot?" Kaidou asked._

"_They didn't find any bullet wound. Apparently, he missed completely."_

"_How long has he been?" Momo was staring at the ground._

"_Almost an hour. They said they don't know how long it will take."_

_Everyone was silent, scared to speak. Ryoga looked at the ground and wiped his tears away again. He felt useless. How could he let this happen? He said he wouldn't let anything happen while they were on that trip and this had to go happen._

_Everyone waited in silence for a good hour and a half before the doctor came out._

"_Echizen Ryoma." He called out. Ryoga jumped to his feet and went to him. Fuji, Tezuka and Atobe followed._

"_Hai. I'm his brother." He wiped his face once more. "How is he?"_

"_Things were touch and go for a while but he's a fighter. The surgery was a success. It's a good thing you brought him in when you did. That toxin that was in his system was beginning to affect his nerves. He' out of the dark and resting in room 204. You can see him later."_

"_Ah. Arigato." Tezuka answered because Ryoga seemed to be in shock._

_The doctor gave them a smile and walked away. Fuji turned to everyone who had been watching in anticipation._

"_He's alright." He said with a big smile._

"_Yatta!" everyone yelled with joy as they heard Fuji._

"_Ryoga-san?" Fuji turned back to Ryoga._

_Ryoga's heart skipped many beats. Tears of joy started pouring down his face. He dropped to his hands and knees and started laughing through his sobs._

"_Thank God."_

_Fuji knelt beside him and patted his back in comfort._

"_That bastard. Making everyone worry like that." Atobe gave a relieved smile. "Looks like things will be back to normal." He gestured to the others._

"_Ah." Tezuka agreed._

* * *

**End of Flashback**

Echizen sighed. Everyone was talking about things that they need to do to make up for lost time while he was in the hospital. He reached to the pedestal by the side of his bed and pulled a Ponta out from behind the flower vase. He popped the tab and silence filled the room. Everyone watched him and he sweat dropped.

"Chibisuke, didn't the doctors say that you can't have any Ponta until you leave?" Ryoga asked accusingly.

"I don't see what the big deal is. It's just one." He raised the can to his lips only for it to be taken by Momo.

"Don't worry Echizen. I'll drink it so it doesn't go to waste." Momo placed the can at his mouth when Echizen reached for it causing him to move it. He bumped into Kaidou in turn making some of the Ponta spill from the can and land on Kaidou's shorts.

Kaidou glared at him. "Baka! Look what you did." He hissed.

"Goman Mamoshi." Momo put his hands up in defense, spill more of the Ponta.

"Kisama. You did that on purpose!" a vein popped.

Momo could feel the intent to kill radiation off Kaidou and got up from where he was sitting and went behind Taka for protection.

"Save me Taka-san!" Momo crouched behind him.

"No violence Kaidou. We don't need to stay in the hospital longer than intended." Oishi said getting between him and Taka.

"Iie data…" Inui had his notebook out and had been scribbling in it ever since they walked in.

Echizen somehow got the Ponta back and was just about to drink only for it to be taken again but by Kikumaru this time.

"Drinking Ponta is a no-no Ochibi. I'll get rid of the temptation for you." Kikumaru raised the Ponta to his mouth and drank it.

Echizen watched in horror. He was so close. He hadn't had a Ponta in nearly three weeks. He looked at Kikumaru with hate reflected in his eyes.

"Saa, it looks like things are back to normal. Ne, Tezuka?" Fuji said with a smile.

Tezuka sighed. "Is that necessarily a good thing?" he was referring to the chaos before them. Fuji laughed.

Things were back to normal. Echizen was healing with no problems, Taiga had been dealt with and Atobe agreed to pay all the medical bills.

Echizen locked eyes with Ryoga. Ryoga smiled at him and Echizen sighed and smiled back. Life was finally back to normal and they were glad.

* * *

**FINALLY. Retribution, it tastes sweet. I knew the air horn would come up somewhere! I had different plans for that but it turned out like this.**

**It's finally done. Thank God. This has been haunting me for so long. I UBER SORRY that I took so long to update. With the beginning of summer, I had to juggle school, practice and games. I've also been stressed out because my eldest sister is leaving for Japan in like a week so I've been trying to spend time with her. With all of those things, I had like no time whatsoever. But I got it done! I dropped my second semester of school so that gave me like half of my day and practice is basically over so now I have lots of time to spend writing more stories.**

**Thanks a bunch to every one of you for reading and reviewing. I loves you lots. And thanks for being so patient. It's been like over a month but now you have it so you should be happy.**

**Forgive stupid mistakes!**

**See ya next story!**


End file.
